While Others Found Their Ending
by Lux's Sister
Summary: For some it was just the beginning. Sierra's in a tailspin after the rest of the Onderon Con Men retire from crime and she finds herself alone in the galaxy, when a job from Zeb forces her to team up with a former mark on a redemption campaign. Nothing gets under a being's skin like the team of Alexsandr Kallus and Sierra Bonteri. [While Others #11]
1. Uptown Girl

**WHILE OTHERS FOUND THEIR ENDING**

UPTOWN GIRL

Sierra Bonteri doesn't lose her family to the Empire, or to the Suns or the Pykes or to Commander Torrance like she feared for years. Instead she loses them the day after Rex and Steela's wedding when they all get together for lunch.

Lux and Ahsoka talk about enrolling Tav and Kiara in either regular school or in the new Jedi Academy Luke Skywalker is setting up. Hero grills Mina about whether each dish has a place in her and Hutch's new restaurant. Saw and Tandin quietly discuss the new security measures they'll need now that Tandin has reclaimed his rightful throne. Rex and Steela take the places of honor, gazing at each other in wedded bliss.

They're all together, but Sierra has never felt more alone.

She alone is not retiring. She's too young and restless, and a life of crime is all she knows. The con, the thrill of the score, the hundred women with her face. She could never settle down and go straight. She could never be just one person for the rest of her life.

She'd known it about herself for forever, but she'd always assumed her family would change their minds about retirement once the moment actually came. They haven't. She sees now that while they accepted the mantle of thief for a time, they were willing to shed it once it was no longer a matter of survival.

Sierra is different. She was in the game before she could dream of being anything else. All she can recall is a vague wish to get married someday

Fat chance of that happening how. Only a few people outside her family know who she really is. She doesn't even know who she really is.

_Pull yourself together, _she orders herself. _This is Rex and Steela's special day. Don't ruin it. _

Twenty-three years of being an intergalactic grifter come in handy. Sierra turns herself into the very beacon of happiness and hope for the future.

They eat, drink, and make merry. They toast Rex and Steela's marriage and bestow blessings on their future together and everyone else's new beginnings.

Only Steela sees through Sierra's facade. As everyone else gets ready to leave she pulls her aside and holds her at arms' length. "Are you okay with this? I know it all happened really fast and to be honest, some of us never thought this day would come."

"I…" Sierra takes a deep breath. "I didn't think it would either. But it's here now and I guess I'm okay with it."

She is totally not okay with it. But what the kriff else is she going to tell Steela?

"So you're really going then?"

"Yeah," she nods. "I'm really going."

Steela crushes her in a bear hug. "If the cops are on your tail and you need a place to hide, you know how to pick the locks on Rex's and my doors."

Sierra chokes up with emotion. She and Steela haven't been apart for almost twenty years; it's almost harder to leave her than to leave Lux. "I'm going to miss you so much!"

"I don't know how that's possible considering what a horrible roommate I was," Steela whispers. "But I'm going to miss you too."

...

Lux and Ahsoka gave her the ship. They figured she would need it to start her solo career and no one but a criminal would want it. It's too much and Sierra tried to tell them when they gave it to her, but Lux wouldn't hear of it. "Plenty of your scores went into this ship," he said and handed over the access codes. "You have just as much a right to it as anyone else."

Now as Sierra settles into the cockpit, the ship feels twenty times larger. There was barely enough space for eleven people but now that there's just one it's huge. She has her pick of all the bedrooms. She can run from one end to the other without hitting someone or worry about slipping on a dropped something.

_Guess I don't have to sacrifice any more heels to the cause, _she muses, recalling a particularly painful incident involving a broken stiletto and a dropped T-shirt.

She swallows hard.

Her family did their time in the game and now they're out, but their work is far from done. As long as beings have existed there are people who prey upon those weaker than themselves. And as long as they exist, the galaxy needs people like her to take them out.

Sierra takes a deep breath and plugs in the coordinates Garazeb Orrelios gave her. He approached her at Steela and Rex's wedding asking for her services in something very important to him. She doesn't know why Zeb needs a grifter, but it's a job and she has to start somewhere.

"Zeb, I'm on my way," she says just before making the jump to hyperspace. "I'll be on Lothal in twenty-four hours."

…

"Looks different from the last time you were here, eh?" Zeb gestures expansively to Lothal as they make their way to the cantina.

"It's still not Onderon, but it's come a long way." Sierra smiles at him. "Good work, Orrelios."

"The work isn't done," Zeb turns his big head closer and drops his voice to a whisper. "I have some unfinished business from before I even met the others from the _Ghost. _Kallus is already working with me on it, but we need some not-very-legal help."

"Kallus?" She repeats. "You mean Agent Alexsandr Kallus?"

"Yeah, that's him. Why?"

"Does he know you're bringing on Sierra Bonteri?"

"No." Zeb furrows his brow. "I thought it would be better to introduce you in - what the kriff are you doing?"

Sierra's already in full quick-change mode, using a compact from her purse to alter her makeup and pinning her loose hair back. "Don't tell him you're bringing me on. Tell him you're bringing on Amanda Bankole, and I'm an attorney."

"An alias?" For a second Zeb looks just like Lux or Saw when they think Sierra's going too far. "Is that really necessary? The Empire's long gone!"

"It's necessary because that's the alias Kallus knows me by." She pauses to wipe off her lipstick with a tissue and reapply a different color. "And considering I no longer have a hacker, I'd rather not burn a functioning alias in front of Alexsandr Kallus."

Zeb considers for a second and then shrugs. "Karabast. Suit yourself."

…

Kallus's face storms over when Zeb and Sierra walk into the cantina. Looks like he didn't even need a second to place her because when they hit the table, he growls _"No."_

"Nice to see you too, Kallus." Sierra shoots back.

Kallus ignores her. "Zeb, do you know who this woman is?"

"I know she can help get the rest of our people to Lira San." Zeb takes a seat.

"Lira San?"

Kallus glares like he can't believe Zeb actually told her the name of the planet. "It's classified."

"It can't be if she's going to help us," Zeb quietly fills Sierra in on the situation on Lira San as best he can with Kallus butting in to block pieces of information. "Any survivors from the Siege of Lasan were captured and taken to prison camps. We recently got intel that some of the Lasat prisoners were sold to Pyke slavers. We've located them but we can't get them out."

"So you need me to give the Pykes a reason to unload the prisoners?" She guesses.

_"__Without _taking them for yourself." Kallus says through gritted teeth.

"Doable," she stands up before the waitress can get close enough to take her drink order. "I'll send you my invoice."

"An invoice?" Zeb repeats. This wasn't part of the deal and Sierra has no intention to actually fill out the invoice. It's only important to mention it because Amanda Bankole would never work for free.

She's about to tell him it won't be too painful but Kallus speaks first. "It's nothing personal, Zeb. She does this to everyone."

She shrugs and flounces off until she hits the street. Then she hits speed dial on her comlink.

"Ahsoka, what kind of screening programs did you have for the Fulcrum agents and how the kriff did Alexsandr Kallus get in?"

...

"You're not really considering taking her on."

Zeb shrugs. "She's the best there is."

"You can't be serious," Kallus sputters. "Amanda Bankole is an amoral, heartless sociopath who has no qualms about committing grand theft!"

"You haven't told me how you know this woman," Zeb counters. Sierra didn't bother to fill him in on the history either - maybe once he knows, he can figure out why she's so insistent on using her alias.

…

On Onderon, Ahsoka wakes up to her comlink ringing. She fumbles for the device and lifts her sleep mask to check the caller's ID.

"That was fast," she mumbles and picks up. "Hello?"

Sierra talks fast and clipped. _"Ahsoka, what kind of screening programs did you have for the Fulcrum agents and how the kriff did Alexsandr Kallus get in?" _

"Sierra, are you aware of what time it is here?"

_"__You've been up earlier. How did he pass even the basic checks for the Fulcrum program?"_

"Working with Kallus, are you?"

_"__I'm not working _with_ him. I won't work with a pompous moral crusader with a massive stick up his -." _

...

"I had the displeasure of encountering her when I was still working for the ISB. My superiors brought her on a consultant to a corruption case I was working on. She tore through every piece of evidence we had and wouldn't leave us alone. I had half a mind to arrest her for obstruction of justice, but then we finally made an arrest and I could get rid of her." Kallus growls. "She disappeared, and so did all the credits we'd impounded for the evidence locker."

Zeb bites his cheek to keep from laughing. "She ripped you off?"

"I didn't have enough evidence to arrest her or I would have. It's not _funny, _Garazeb!"

"Except that it is," Zeb allows himself a little chuckle. "If she could fool the great Agent Kallus then she's exactly what we need."

…

_"__Look, Kallus might be a little rough around the edges but he's a good partner. He legitimately wants to help. Does he have a problem with how we helped the rebellion?"_

"He doesn't know. I'm Amanda Bankole."

_"__You're on alias?" _Sierra can almost hear Ahsoka rolling her eyes. _"That's a great way to make friends." _

"Kallus switched sides like a light! What's stopping him from turning me in to the cops?"

_"__Maybe because you stole from the Empire he also helped bring down?"_

"Which also involved stealing from _him." _

Ahsoka sighs. _"Sierra, he's a good guy." _

Unfortunately that's the problem.

_"__Look, this is your first solo job. Just get through it and then worry about Kallus."_

...

To her chagrin, Sierra actually ends up getting stuck with him and it's her own kriffing fault. Her insistence on staying in character means she can't use another alias for the job itself, and while Amanda Bankole may be corrupt and amoral, she draws the line at straight-up theft. Sierra has to spin a story which involves getting a client of Amanda's off the hook for money laundering by framing his old business partner, who the Pykes just so happen to hate. It's a good plan and the mark buys into it, but he didn't get to his current position by being an idiot.

He asks to see her client, and the only shill she can produce is Kallus. She calls him after she leaves to brief him, sure this is going to go down the tubes as soon as he shows up.

… and he's fabulous.

Kallus shows up with razor-sharp muttonchops and a suit which could make a senator drool. That's not to say anything of his impeccable acting. He pulls off "corporate sleazeball" better than any grifter she's met, including her brother. The Pykes are signing in minutes, the captive Lasat due to be delivered tomorrow. It's such a fabulous victory that Kallus insists they go out for drinks.

"Only for tradition's sake," he clarifies. "I always have one for the boys I left behind."

Sierra finds herself saying "That's sweet."

"Sweet?" Kallus repeats, raising an eyebrow.

"There's more to me than credit-grabbing," she says. "I can appreciate honoring the memory of those no longer with us, and for celebrating a job well done."

She looks over her shoulder as they walk into the bar: "Which you did, by the way."

"Thank you. You were … effective as well." He says rather grudgingly. "What's your drink?"

"Old fashioned," Sierra tells both Kallus and the bartender.

"Sweet drink for someone like you," he mutters. "I'll take a scotch rocks."

The bartender slides their drinks across the bartop and they promptly run out of conversation topics.

"I guess we should comm Zeb and tell him the job's over," she says. "I'll stay in order to see the prisoners returned and to give my invoice, of course."

"That might take longer than you think," Kallus's eyes narrow. "The table on your five o'clock is watching us."

Now is the part where most people would say "don't look," but she has to - a grifter can hardly do her job without looking. When she looks to the table a human woman raises her glass to her, the gesture showing off the Crimson Dawn brand on the inside of her wrist. _Oh, thank God. _

"I've got this," she scoops up her drink and makes her way over to the table.

Once she knows Kallus can't see her face she breaks into a smile. "Qi'ra."

"Sierra," Qi'ra welcomes her warmly. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"I could say the same for you. Since when do the Pykes treat with Crimson Dawn?"

"They don't. I heard rumors that someone was looking to take them down and I wasn't sure what to make of them. But now that I've run into you…"

Sierra's old crew had three solid rules. They didn't cross the Hutts, they didn't cross the Pykes, and they didn't cross Black Sun or Crimson Dawn. As much as they kept themselves out of those circles their criminal contacts didn't. Anyway, it always helps to know your competition in the game.

"So your plan was to swoop in on my finished work like some sort of vulture?"

"Sierra, why don't we work together more often?"

"Because a crew only needs one grifter," she replies. "And because I prefer not to work with organizations which undo my very hard work."

Qi'ra sighs but continues on nonetheless. "Speaking of organizations, where's yours? I heard they were out of the game."

"A girl can't make some solo credits?" Sierra takes a sip of her drink. "Living's expensive."

"Solo credits?" Qi'ra repeats. "In that case who's your table partner?"

Kallus. She thinks fast. "I finished one job; might as well go right on to another. It's nothing of your caliber of course, I'm just taking him for a ride and walking away with a nice fat check."

Qi'ra tries to get a better look. "Looks good in that suit."

Sierra kind of has to agree.

"Enough that I wonder how much of a con this really is. You're clearly impressed with him."

"What, like you're the only one who can appreciate art?"

"No, but I know what getting too close to the mark looks like." Of course she did; Qi'ra's mistake was famous galaxy-wide.

Sierra scoffs. "I'm not throwing in with my ex and then leaving him with half the score."

"I'm just saying, watch yourself."

She's not going to make a habit of taking advice from Qi'ra of all people, but she's also not going to let her think she's weak or losing her edge. "As much as I'd love to talk more, I shouldn't keep my mark waiting much longer. Don't want him spotting some competition."

"Happy hunting," Qi'ra smiles behind the rim of her glass.

Sierra gets up from the table and returns to her own, ignoring Kallus's confused expression.

"What was that?" He whispers. "That woman - why are you looking at me like that?"

"She's part of Crimson Dawn," she murmurs, laying her hand on the armrest of Kallus' stool, "And she thinks I'm sweetheart scamming you. We don't want to give her any ideas to the contrary."

"You're a lawyer. You don't do -." Realization flashes in his eyes. Sierra's seen aliases blow enough to recognize it when it happens. "You're not Amanda Bankole."

"Not working for Crimson Dawn either. So if you could help me sell this, that would be appreciated."

Instantly he's the task-oriented high achiever she met on the job all those years ago and in the Pykes' office. "What do we do?"

"I'm going to kiss you," she says, sliding closer. "And we have to make it look good, but not out of control."

"Who initiates? Where do you want my hands?"

They can't sit here blocking this like they're in a play. "I do. Just remember, good but not out of control."

She kisses him.

It gets out of control in about two seconds.


	2. Take It Like a Man

**TAKE IT LIKE A MAN**

A note about continuity: I wrote the _While Others _series before the release of _Rogue One _and the introduction of Saw Gerrera's partisans. In this universe, Saw was a member of the Onderon Con Men during the entire reign of the Empire. Someone else led the partisans of Onderon. Therefore Saw is perfectly sane and was in no way responsible for the slaughter of Kallus's men, and in fact was part of a rebel cell who was known to be rather honorable.

Also, those of you who have read DuchessKenobi's and my joint works may recognize some names and faces from _The Ashla Spectrum _and _Polaris. _These works do not take place in the same universe. Several characters who made their debut in _Polaris _were originally imagined for the _While Others _series but never made an appearance. So while you may recognize a name, that character may not be in the same situation they were in for their signature work. With that in mind I invite you to kick back, relax, and enjoy the continuing adventures of Sierra Bonteri and Alexsandr Kallus, who are about to meet properly for the first time.

* * *

"You said to make it look good!" Kallus argues as they leave the bar.

"I meant reciprocate, throw a little passion in there, not spill your drink in my lap!" Sierra furiously blots the stain with a napkin. It's no use.

"It was an accident. I was trying to move my hands."

She sighs. "It's over now anyway. We can only hope Crimson Dawn believes the scam story." In fact, she gives herself a mental pat on the back for her handling of the situation. Once she got over the initial shock of a scotch rocks bath, she'd done just enough flattering and _oh-it's-okay_ing to paint Kallus as the perfect sweetheart scam mark. Hopefully Qi'ra and her ilk took the bait.

"I'm sorry about your dress. I'll pay to have it dry-cleaned if you want."

"That would be nice."

He clears his throat. "May I have your name for the ticket?"

When she hesitates he soldiers on. "I'm in no place to hand you over to the police, even if I wanted to. I simply want to know who I've really been insulting and who got the better of me those years ago."

_Why not? _Her alias is toasted anyway, even if it wasn't it's only a matter of time before Zeb slips up and reveals her, and Kallus is right, he can't hand her over to the cops without burning himself. "It's Sierra. Sierra Bonteri."

He blinks. "Of the Onderon … of course. It all makes sense now. How you knew Zeb, your willingness to free the Lasat, why you destroyed the ISB's evidence when you took the credits."

"For good reason, I might add."

"Why didn't you tell me at the cantina? I understand we started out on opposite sides, but I ended up working with both Mothma and Organa. Gods, I processed some of your payouts!"

"You were a former mark," she replies, leaving out the part where she didn't trust him a lick. "People tend to get angry when they find out they've been conned."

"I knew I'd been conned when the credits disappeared, but I wouldn't have been angry now if I'd known they went to fund the rebellion and not to line a fictional lawyer's pockets. Though I guess some of them did go toward your crew's living expenses." He furrows his brow. "Where's your crew? Your brother should have been able to cover the Pykes and your hitter should have taken care of Crimson Dawn without breaking a sweat."

She doesn't want to tell him she's alone. Switching sides or not she still conned him and probably made him look like a fool, and she doesn't know if he's the revenge type. But it's not like she can produce her crewmates either. Sierra chews on the decision but once again opts for the truth. "They retired. I didn't."

"What?" Kallus coughs. "I...I didn't think they had it in them."

"Apparently they do," she sighs. "They put in twenty years, it's about time they got their pensions."

"So did you. Why are you still out here when you could be on a beach nursing a meiloorun punch?"

"You think that's what I want to do?"

"That's what I think Amanda Bankole would do," he corrects himself. "It seems I don't know much about who I'm working with at all."

"Neither do I." She was content to think of him as the straightlaced agent suffocating everyone with protocol. But after seeing him in that office (and in that suit) she knows this Alexsandr Kallus is a very different man than the one she gamed. "But I'd like to find out."

"Somewhere more suitable than an alley, please."

She couldn't agree more. She'd also like a place where she can be sure there are no bugs, not have to worry about Zeb barging in and putting his foot in his mouth, and change out of her whiskey-stained dress. That's one place in the known galaxy. "Well, I have a ship."

…

"This is your ship?" Kallus raises an eyebrow when they enter.

"What were you expecting, a bulletin board with strings tacked up between pictures?"

"It reminds me of the _Ghost. _I wasn't picturing something so … domestic."

"This was our home since the Empire rose. Of course we'd decorate." She gestures to the couch. "Make yourself at home. I'll find us something to drink."

She emerges a while later in a clean dress with a bottle of wine. "Red okay?"

"Perfectly fine." He pulled out the chair beside him. "After you."

"You haven't forgotten all of your Academy education."

"It comes in handy when dealing with the more refined crowd." He watches as she pours the wine. "I may no longer be an officer, but I am a gentleman."

"Except when you're acting like a scoundrel."

"You're bearable yourself when you're not acting like Arihnda Pryce."

"Pryce?!" She squawks. "Please. I may steal for a living but I'm miles better than Pryce."

"In what way? You're both smart and every bit as devious -."

"Morals," Sierra says confidently. "I don't kill people."

"Your crew killed Abitha Frey. Remember her, the headmistress of the Imperial Academy on Kuat?"

"Yes I do. I also remember that we got her _arrested,_ which she completely deserved after the danger she put her charges in." She takes a sip of her wine.

"You got her arrested by framing her for the theft of Moff Tarkin's credits." Kallus pauses. "Tarkin had her tortured to death."

Sierra swallows hard.

"I read your file; I know you know what that's like." He lowers his voice. "We _both _know what that's like."

She takes a moment to gather her thoughts.

"We didn't know Tarkin was going to kill her." She says after a long silence. "We thought he would find the proof she wasn't involved but would keep her in jail for her other crimes. If I had any idea he was going to kill her, or kill her the way he did, I would have made us get her arrested some other way. We may have overestimated how much research Tarkin would do and that's on us but we didn't do that intentionally. We were always trying to help people and we did care who got caught in the crossfire. That's the difference between me and Pryce, and that's the difference between you and Thrawn and the guy who tortured me."

Kallus drains his wineglass. "I suppose that's fair."

"And what about you? What's your reasoning for your time in the ISB?"

"I wanted to help people. I wanted to see justice done for them and be a part of bringing that justice about. But then the siege of Lasan came about and I did … unspeakable things." He pours himself another glass of wine "I was just following orders and did things I didn't know I was capable of. I've been trying to atone for it ever since Bahryn."

He snorts. "When I pictured my future I never imagined that I would be sleeping on a Lasat's couch, helping to undo everything I spent my earlier career doing."

"So freeing the Lasat…"

"It was the first step in my redemption campaign. I'm not entirely sure what comes next. Probably whatever Zeb has in mind."

The words pop out of Sierra's mouth before she knows what she's saying, a rarity especially for her: "You could work with me."

Kallus lowers his glass as she wonders what in the nine Corellian hells she's just done.

"I'm not a thief."

"Could've fooled me in that office. You'd be good at it and you could leave Zeb's couch."

"And live where exactly?" He raises an eyebrow.

"There's an extra bedroom on this ship. Several, actually. My family crammed eleven people on this scrap heap, two shouldn't be a problem."

He's considering. "What's in it for you?"

Sometimes the truth really is golden. "I need a partner."

"And that's what I'd be?" He asks. "Your partner in crime?"

"If you run with me you'd be someone who helps people who can't be helped any other way. You'll be doing a lot of good." She shrugs. "Think about it; it's a big decision. But doing this, you'll never have to worry about blindly following orders again."

…

"Are you sure about this?" Zeb asks as Kallus packs his things. "You're welcome to stay here or make a life on Lira San if you want."

"Thank you Garazeb," Kallus shoulders his suitcase. "I'll certainly keep it in the back of my mind."

"So, any reason in particular you're joining up with Sierra?"

"It's…" he takes a deep breath. "I know I can do a lot of good working with you. I feel that working with her, I can do more."

"Well who am I to stand in the way of doing good?" Zeb claps a hand on his shoulder. "May the force be with you, my friend."

Kallus straightens at the word _friend. _"And with you too."

"Well you better not keep the grifter waiting," Zeb says. "She may look all sweet, but she'll leave you in the dust any day of the week."

"Right. Well, goodbye then." Kallus extends his hand.

Zeb shakes. "Goodbye, Alexsandr."

He waits until Kallus is all the way down the block before he smirks.

Zeb flips open his comm and dials. "Sabine, hey. Kallus just left with the last of his stuff. You were right, I should have done this weeks ago."

_"__Ha! I knew it." _

"How did you know?"

_"__Didn't you see my HoloMail? When you told me they'd met before, Hera and I pulled the security footage from when she conned him. You'd need a lightsaber to cut _that _tension." _

…

"There are two bunks because this is Saw and Rex's old room." Sierra gestures to the inside of the cabin. "If you want to move one out then feel free, just don't put it in the room across the hall."

Kallus raises an eyebrow as he sets his suitcase on one of the bunks. "What's in the room across the hall?"

It's Sierra's old room, from when her family was still working together. She moved into the master suite the first night she was off on her own because looking at Steela's and Katooni's empty bunks made the ship feel ten times quieter. "It's...my closet."

"You have an entire room as your closet?" Kallus scoffs.

"I have to put my clothes somewhere, don't I?" Grateful to change the subject to something more comfortable she does. "Speaking of clothes do you have anything nice other than that suit?"

"No..." Clearly he doesn't like where this is going. "There's no reason to have more than one."

"Is now. You can't do this job and have only one suit."

She already had the feeling Kallus hates shopping. He confirms it in an instant. "I'll be fine for a while."

"It's not just the suit. You'll need different shoes, ties, jackets, different kinds of clothes for different jobs."

"I don't have many credits." It's his last feeble hope.

She didn't get this far in her career letting people out-talk her. Sierra brandishes a credit card. "Good thing it's on the Pykes."

…

Kallus is in and out of the department store in fifteen minutes.

"Did you just grab stuff at random?" Sierra demands, still sore about not being able to look over the women's section.

"Of course not. I simply know what I like and don't spend hours trying things on." He shoots her a look like he knows she was about to do just that thing in the women's section.

"Then how do you know what fits?"

"Because I know my _size." _

"And how did you manage to get everything on the list in fifteen minutes?"

Kallus removes the items from his shopping bags one by one. "Suit, dark. Suit, light. Two dress shirts, one white and one colorful. Two casual collared shirts, both in color. Two ties, one black and one colorful. One pair of -." He grins to her shocked face.

_"__How?!" _

"I told you. I know my size." He scoops the packages off the table and makes his way to his room to drop them off.

Sierra waits for the other shoe to drop like she knows it will. Once he actually puts the clothes on he's going to have to return them because they don't fit, or don't look good enough on him to be convincing. And then she is going to _drag_ him through the store and make him try everything on.

Except the shoe never drops. In fact, she finds out as she's transferring her clothes and shoes to her old room/new closet, that he doesn't need to try anything on because he looks good in everything. Like really, ridiculously good. And of course she finds this out while she's holding her equally ridiculous collection of shapewear.

She growls. Sometimes the galaxy is cruel.

"Something wrong?" Kallus asks.

He kriffing knows. "Stubbed my toe."

"That happened a lot to my friend who wore high heels. She just had to switch to flats."

She refuses to answer that. Without her heels she's an entire head shorter than Kallus.

In the refresher, Kallus smirks in the mirror: _That's what you get for trying to turn me into a dress-up doll. _

He finishes trying on the last shirt when she finishes moving her clothes. Annoying her was the entire point of his impromptu fashion show, and now that she's not around to see it he might as well stop. Now she'll see that one doesn't have to spend hours shopping when you know your size.

The smug feeling lasts until he steps on something slippery and plants flat on his back with an _oof. _

Sierra returns to the hallway and scoops up the dropped garment. "Sorry about that. You should probably watch where you're going." Her heels audibly clack as she walks away.

Kallus watches from the floor, trying to decide whether or not she dropped the garment on purpose. It could definitely be an accident with all the clothes she was moving. But he doesn't put it past her to dump him on his shebs.

He's absolutely _not _watching for any other reason. He doesn't care what she looks like.

…

Thankfully they take a job before they can kill each other over some petty consequence of sharing quarters. It's a straightforward one, ripping off a crooked banker, and the payout isn't bad. It's also a good opportunity to see what Kallus can do. He quickly demonstrates his use when they walk up to the mark's personal vault and he takes out the two security guards without breaking a sweat.

She picks the lock on the safe deposit box while he finishes with the last one and removes their score. "Ready to go?"

Kallus nods and looks once more at the unconscious guards before they make for the getaway speeder.

"Please explain why it was necessary for you to talk him into showing you the boxes when we were just going to break in anyway." He's sore about that part, especially since he had to wait in the speeder for her half the day.

"I had to know which one to steal, didn't I?"

"You could have checked the log book."

"That wouldn't tell me which one has his valuables and which one has the far more valuable blackmail material." She flashes a holo from their spoils. "What do you think our clients can do with that?"

Kallus blinks at the holo. "How does a being even…?"

"I've learned to stop asking."

"So we'll post the blackmail to our clients. How do we get paid?"

"His liquid assets." She gives him a peek of those too.

"Split two ways, that's…" he whistles. "Very nice."

"Definitely enough to put fuel in the ship for a while." Her comlink rings and she gestures for Kallus to drive so she can answer.

"I don't recognize this number, so this had better be good."

_"__This is the Royal Palace of Mandalore, Sundari. I assume I'm speaking with Sierra Bonteri?" _

"Who's asking for her? I heard she was a criminal."

_"__The Duchess of Mandalore. Years ago your crew offered me a favor and I'm calling it in. _Leverage."

Sierra freezes in her seat and Kallus furrows his brow, confused.

"I see. What can I do for you, Duchess?"

_"__I need some extra-legal aid with a group who's recently put down roots in Sundari. It's not safe to discuss over the comm." _

"I understand completely. We'll meet you as soon as we can get to Mandalore." She ends the call.

Kallus speaks as soon as she does. "Who was that?"

"My guess? Bo-Katan Kryze. My family worked with her a while ago but I've never met her. I wouldn't have even given her the time of day if she hadn't said the code word."

"So she won't immediately arrest us?"

"She shouldn't. We should still have an exit plan of course, but I can't think of any reason Bo would have to double-cross us. She's in no position to score brownie points with the Pykes or anyone we took down."

Kallus doesn't look too pleased but he shrugs. "Anything to keep you away from that department store."

…

It's not Bo-Katan Kryze who greets them when they land at the palace in Sundari. A redheaded man and brunette woman stand on the platform, a little boy and girl chasing each other behind them.

"Last I heard Bo-Katan Kryze was a redhead." Kallus examines the scene. "And she doesn't have any children. So much for our contact being her."

"Just go with it," Sierra says placidly and leads the way down the boarding ramp. "Kids are a good sign. Law enforcement wouldn't allow them to be around during an ambush."

"Point taken. Let's just hope their parents have qualms about killing in front of them."

"You're coming into earshot." She slaps her grifter smile on and lifts her gaze to the family on the steps. "Good morning."

"Good morning to you too," the woman says warmly and steps forward to greet them both. "Ms. Bonteri I assume, and Mr…?"

"Kallus." He crosses his arms, a habit from the ISB days.

"I'm Soniee Kryze; I don't know if you remember me or my husband Korkie. It wasn't on your best day that we met."

"It wasn't, but I remember you." If not by face, then by story. Hutch complained about Soniee calling his work "jungle madness" for weeks, and according to Lux Korkie helped Rex and Tandin pull her out of shock. "I don't think you were married then."

"We weren't. We got married a few years later and then, well…" Soniee nods to the children who are now staring slackjawed at the visitors.

Korkie gently elbows his children. "Melaana, Pascal, say hello."

"Hi! Do you really steal stuff? Can you teach me how to do it?" the redheaded little girl blurts way too loud for anyone's liking.

"Is her hair perhaps her warning label?" Kallus mutters.

"Pretty much," Korkie replies as he ushers both of the kids inside.

"So what was it you wanted to hire us to do?" Sierra asks a bit later after the kids are safely away and the grownups are settled in the parlor.

She wants to get right to the point of the job but finds herself looking back in the direction the children had been shuffled off. Here's another couple who had led a seemingly exciting life when they were young and managed to settle down and have kids, just like the rest of her family.

Before either Korkie or Soniee can answer her first question Sierra asks another, "Melaana? That's an Onderonian name, isn't it?"

"She's named after my mother," Soniee smiles. "Who was actually betrothed to your father once upon a time before your mother stole him away."

That sounds like an interesting story but before they can get too distracted Korkie squeezes his wife's hand. "Speaking of stealing… that's sort of why we asked you to come."

"Yes." Soniee sighs. "We've been having a bit of trouble with the Cantilever Group."

"The Cantilever Group?" Kallus repeats. "I worked with them once or twice when I was in the ISB. They're a megacorporation."

"Yes, and they've recently expanded their operations to Mandalore," Korkie replies. "It seemed like an opportunity for economic growth when they first arrived, and before we knew it they had their hands in everything. Food, power, transportation...they practically run the planet. All the work we've done to reduce corruption they've torn apart."

"And I take it they were less than receptive when you approached them about this?" Sierra asks.

Soniee laughs humorlessly. "They informed us how very unfortunate it would be if a gas line were to ignite under Melaana and Pascal's school."

Sierra, no stranger to corporate ruthlessness, just nods. "I see. Well we can't take down the entire company; their earnings are more than the gross products of some planets. It would cripple planetaries economies. But we can get them off Mandalore for you."

"That's what we were hoping for." For the first time Soniee looks to the door as if she was expecting someone else. "Where's the rest of your crew? I have something for Hutch."

She's not looking forward to saying this: "We're it. Everyone else retired."

Soniee blanches for a second, but reaches into her pocket and holds out a data cube. "I was hoping to see what the Cashier From Hell could do with this...but I've done what I can."

…

"What was that with the data cube?" Kallus asks when they're alone in the rooms the Duke and Duchess kindly provided them.

"Soniee teamed up with my family once to do a job. She worked with Hutch." Sierra plugs the data cube into her computer. "You already know Hutch is good and she's nothing to sneeze at, but together they were _unstoppable." _

"The Duchess of Mandalore is a hacker?!"

Sierra laughs. "Well she wasn't the duchess then and I don't think any of us had any idea that her boyfriend was the heir to an entire planetary system. But it looks like she's still got the chops. Check this out." She points out something on the computer. "Looks like the Cantilever Group was kind enough to leave a digital breadcrumb trail."

"Leading directly back to their illegal activities." He leans in closer. "If proof of this got out it would be a public relations nightmare."

"And a PR nightmare like this would get their illegal backers to pull out, sending the stock price through the floor. The company would have no choice but to close the Mandalore branch. All we need are the original files."

"Why couldn't the duchess just do this herself? She has almost everything we need right here."

"Because if it was traced back to her they would take out their vengeance on her children. We, on the other hand, are independent and can fake like it came from somewhere else." She closes the window on her computer and brings up a different screen. "Here's the plan."

Kallus leans in closer so he can read it.

"That's never going to work," he scoffs. "You've come up with some questionable things before but this takes the cake. It's far too over-the-top."

"If I've learned one thing over the last twenty-odd years it's that if you're going to do something and get away with it, never do it by halves. Go all the way. People have a threshold for craziness and once you cross it, they can't process and you can get away with anything."

"Not if it attracts more attention to you."

"As I recall you didn't catch the rebels who blew up a group of TIEs while shooting off Empire Day fireworks. You can _never _go too far."

Kallus shifts positions and momentarily loses his balance. He grabs the back of her chair to steady himself, catching hold of her shoulder in the process. "Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you."

They don't move.

Eventually Sierra clears her throat. "My shoulder?"

Kallus startles and abruptly lets go. "My apologies."


	3. And So It Goes

**AND SO IT GOES**

Per a request from MusicKeeper I'd like to include Sierra's and Kallus's current ages as well as the timeline of this story. Sierra went directly from Rex and Steela's wedding after-party (which occurred right after the fall of the Empire) to take the job from Zeb where the story begins. She is currently 35 years old. Kallus is 42 years old.

The con during which Kallus encountered Sierra as Amanda Bankole took place near the end of Season 1 of _Rebels. _He would have been 37-38 and she 30-31 years old.

All caught up? Then let's see what the galaxy's newest crime duo has up their sleeve.

* * *

Kallus enters the Cantilever Group's branch office on Mandalore carrying an armload of brightly wrapped gifts and walks brazenly up to the secretary's desk.

"Delivery for Mr. Warburton?" the secretary asks.

"I don't think so," Kallus pretends to read a delivery slip. "Everything's addressed to Lyarra."

The secretary's eyes widen. "I'm Lyarrra. But it's not my lifeday."

"Well someone thinks it's time to celebrate," Kallus pushes one of the gifts across her desk. "Maybe if we open one we can find out who it is."

Lyarra tears into the package as Sierra slides past her desk and into the mark's office.

...

"Mr. Warburton," Sierra shakes the Chief Operating Officer's hand. "Octavia Peel, from Milsom Efficiency."

"An efficiency expert?" Warburton looks pained. "How'd you get past my secretary?"

_It wasn't hard, thank you Kallus. _"I'm here to get you off this rock and into a nice corner office at headquarters. If you want to check my references, my former clients Galactic Mart and Malastare Fuel would be happy to talk to you."

Now she has his attention. "Those are two of the galaxy's highest-grossing companies."

"Exactly." She takes a seat. "They got that way by burning off every leech sucking from the bottom line. For one percent of the savings, I'd like to burn off yours."

"One percent seems like a lowball. What's in it for you?"

"Let's just say there are some leeches I'd like burned out of Milsom. One percent of the savings should be plenty to get rid of them."

Warburton shrugs. "Fair. Now what did you have in mind?"

"My first suggestion? Reduce your staff by twenty percent; that always works. After that I can't tell you anything without looking at the bank statements."

"You expect me to just give you the bank statements?" He blinks. "You just walked into my office now. I can hardly hand over company records."

"Of course not," she shakes her head and smiles a little. "I don't need copies of the records. I just need to _see _them. Could you pull them up?"

Warburton chews on it. Then he reaches for his data pad and logs in.

Sierra reads the records quick and mentally flags what could be suspicious accounts. Using the 'pad to hide her hand she pops out the memory card and replaces it with a dummy one. It has copies of the information on Soniee's data cube so it should hold up for a while if Warburton gets the idea to look at the 'pad after she's done with it.

"It's good for a new branch." She sets it down on the desk. "I see definite room for profit though. Let's start with your distributors."

…

Kallus is really pushing it with the secretary by the time Sierra emerges from the office. He excuses himself and they meet up in the turbolift as planned.

"Do you delight in making me wait?" He snipes. "Half the time you and Warburton were talking about nothing."

"Not nothing. I have to act like an efficiency expert or he'll get suspicious." How many times has she been over this with Lux or Saw or Kallus himself? She hands him the memory card. "Here. This should be enough to leak to the press."

Kallus tests it in his comm unit. "Coupled with what we already have, yes."

"Great. Take it to the speeder. I'm going back to Warburton's office."

"What? Why?"

She had more time to read the records than he did, and what she read makes her blood boil. "We can take him down a few more pegs. I want to knock him down so he won't get up again."

The turbolift door dings and she leaves before Kallus can object.

Lux didn't like pulling this when he ran the crew. _Don't get greedy _was practically his catchphrase. Well, Sierra knows that on the few occasions they went back for a bigger score, it led to marvelous payouts and a mark reduced to a pile of jelly. She's willing to give it a whirl.

"Mr. Warburton," she says when she gets to the mark's office, actually having to get past Lyarra the secretary this time. "I think we can reorganize your distributors to triple your profits and have a little extra left over."

_"__I'm in the speeder. If you're not out by the time I get hungry, I'm not waiting for you," _Kallus growls in her earbud.

Warburton doesn't even look up at her. He's nearly hunched over the datapad, staring at it vexed. "Just a minute Ms. Peel. I'm trying to send my daughter's teacher a picture of a permission slip but I can't find it when I try to attach it to the message. It was just in my holos this morning."

Uh-oh. "Maybe it was linked to another account?"

"No my datapad does this occasionally. I can usually send from the holos app." Warburton taps the screen a couple of times and his face storms over. "All my holos…"

Before Sierra even has time to blink, Warburton reaches under his desk and she finds herself staring down the business end of a blaster.

"I see how this is. The ax-woman shows up to ax me? What did you do to my datapad?" he demands.

_Well, I'm dead. _Kallus is in the speeder pool with the score. No doubt he's halfway across Sundari by now; that's what she would do in his place.

Warburton gestures with the blaster. "Who sent you, the CEO? The owner? Or are you corporate espionage from one of our competitors?"

Sierra composes herself. If this is her last job, then she's going to go out fabulous.

"I'm here to rip your company apart," she makes her way to the chair and sits down neatly. It won't do to fall down in a heap. "And I have to say, it was easy."

…

The earbuds Hutch St. James designed for his crew don't just relay the wearer's voice, they pick up outside sounds. Kallus hears the blaster charge when he gets to the speeder, and freezes.

_She's a con woman. Maybe she can talk her way out, _he thinks to himself.

Within the next ten seconds it's apparent Sierra's not talking her way out of this one. Kallus curses under his breath and does an about face.

He can't just walk into the office. He needs something to cover their exit - but what?

_You can never go too far. _

A plan formulates as Kallus returns to the building. He slicks back his hair and makes his way to the most crowded room in the building.

"Excuse me!" He shouts and waits for the staff to give him their attention. "My name is Neal Caffrey and I work directly under Mr. Warburton. I regret to inform you, you're all fired!"

…

The sound starts as a murmur and quickly grows to a cacophonous roar as it gets closer to Warburton's office. Sierra turns in her chair, no longer concerned with leaving a pretty corpse,

"What is that?" Warburton asks.

To him it must sound like a wall of sound, but Sierra picks out a few words through the earbud. A grin spreads across her face in disbelief. "You're through, Mr. Warburton."

Warburton raises an eyebrow in confusion just as his office door flies open and Kallus appears. With ex-ISB-agent speed he lunges in, grabs Sierra's bicep, and yanks her out of the room.

Warburton tries to chase them as they bolt down the hallway, but he's instantly stopped by the wall of crying screaming employees.

"You came back!" she gasps.

"Of course I came back!" Kallus snaps. A heavy silence ensues and he follows it up with "You're my partner. No man left behind."

_No man left behind. _For a second it feels like working with her family again, having people who care about her.

"Thank you," she says.

"What?"

"For coming back."

Kallus rolls his eyes and lobs his suit jacket into the backseat. Did his shirt shrink in the wash? She could swear he looks different. "We're not out of this yet."

...

They don't get back to the palace until well after dark, after they've given a copy of the memory card to the most bloodthirsty reporter in Sundari and painstakingly picked their way through alleys and back streets to avoid detection. It's so late Soniee and Korkie have probably gone to bed so they don't bother announcing themselves and instead go straight to their rooms to retire.

_Retire_. It was a kriffing swear word for most of Sierra's life, still is, and she's too keyed up to do either sort of retiring tonight.

She tries taking a shower to relax. No dice, even though the 'fresher has one of those showers with at least ten different settings. Watching the HoloNet is also a bust; even the trashiest of her guilty pleasure shows can't capture her attention.

With a sigh she switches off the holoscreen and throws on a robe. She's not getting any sleep until she gets her head sorted, and she'd rather not have dark circles under her eyes when she talks with Korkie and Soniee.

Sierra crosses the hall and knocks on Kallus' door. He opens it halfway, pajama-clad and hair still wet from a shower.

He looks good even in pajamas, and somehow it doesn't piss her off.

He takes a wild guess. "You can't sleep either?"

"You didn't have to come back for me," she says. "Say what you will about no man left behind, but I was completely immaterial to the success of the job. You could have taken the score and ran, but you came back. Why?"

Kallus stares for a while. "Like I said, I didn't want you killed. You're … my partner and I don't know anyone else in the galaxy who knows me like you do."

She blinks. "Like I do?"

"You don't care what I did while I was in the ISB. You know that sometimes people do bad things for a good reason, because you're one of the people who does. You're infuriating, and holier-than-thou and you have a terrible shoe obsession, but you can look past what I've done and see why I did it." He sighs. "I still wonder if I'm a good person sometimes. You remind me that I am, and I didn't want you to die."

She kisses him.

Kallus wraps an arm around her and deepens the kiss. There's no Qi'ra, no mark, no cover story, only the two of them and how good he looks in everything. All the annoyance and tension they felt for each other boils over into something entirely other. Something that feels entirely good.

He loses his footing and they stumble into the room. He breaks the kiss for a second. "Do you…?"

"Gods, yes."

He shuts the door behind them.

...

Melaana Satine Kryze knows all about the Onderon Con Men. Her parents tell her stories about their exploits every night, how they rob the rich and give to the poor, how they helped to tear down the evil Empire. And now they're staying in her house! Mel just can't let that opportunity slide.

She stands up on her tippy-toes to comfortably reach the doorknob. Her momma and dad installed locks on all the guest room doors, but she had long ago learned how to jimmy them and she'd gotten up early this morning so she wouldn't get caught. Sierra Bonteri is going to be so impressed! Maybe she'll make Melaana a thief too!

Mel takes her hair pin and picks in the locking mechanism until she feels the tumblers snake back. There's a muffled curse from inside the room but she ignores it and victoriously slides the door back.

"Melaana!" Kallus clutches the covers over his lap and angles his body to hide a strange, covered lump beside him. "What are you doing here?"

"I was lookin' for Miss Sierra." Mel cocks her head. "Is this your room?"

"Yes dear. Miss Sierra's is across the hall but I don't think she's there right now. She went...out."

"Oh, okay." Melaana tries to take a closer look at Kallus. He sort of looks like her parents sometimes do when she slips their lock in the mornings. "Can you help me look for her?"

"Um…" Kallus looks around frantically. "Korkie!" he calls. _"Korkie!" _

Korkie appears a short while later, a little confused. "Is something…?" He spots his daughter and Kallus's position, and goes white. "Oh Manda! Melaana, honey, remember what we said about respecting others' privacy?" He grabs Mel's hand and steers her away, shutting the door as he leaves.

Kallus lets out a sigh of relief. "All clear."

"Thank gods," Sierra crawls out from under the covers, not looking him in the eye. "I thought she'd never leave."

…

"I mean I'm glad it was them and not some random dignitary she walked in on." Korkie returns to the bedroom he shared with his wife.

Soniee has the sheet half covering her face to hide her laughter. "Walk in on? I'm sure our little terror put more effort into it than that."

"We need to stop reading her stories about the con men. We're just fanning the flames otherwise." He collapses on the bed and groans. "You know, I wasn't expecting them to...I felt the tension, who wouldn't, but I wasn't expecting it to be so sudden."

"You'd be surprised." The sheet can't hide Soniee's expression now.

Korkie's jaw drops. "You knew what was happening the whole time and you let me go down there?!"

She laughs. "Well Kallus did ask for you."

"You…" He growled and tickled her.

…

"I don't think you'll have to worry about the Cantilever Group anymore," Sierra breaks the silence at a very awkward breakfast. She's wearing a much more conservative outfit than usual, and deliberately doesn't make eye contact with Kallus. "Their stock plummeted twenty points overnight. They'll have no choice but to pull out of Mandalore."

"Twenty points?" Soniee almost chokes. "With just what you leaked to the press?"

"The press also got footage of all of the employees streaming out the building, crying." Kallus says, obviously proud of his improvisation. "It was a _nightmare." _

"Well thank you both. We're so glad to have this behind us," Korkie takes his wife's hand and smiles before redirecting to their guests. "Now about payment…"

"Don't worry about it. We sold short on the stocks and when you do that before the price drops twenty points…" Sierra whistles. "Our fee is more than covered. Thank you for opening you home to us."

"We were glad to have you," Soniee says when Korkie starts to flounder. "It's refreshing to have adult company."

"I'm sure," Kallus says, lip twitching. "It's nice to see a happy family too. Your kids are..." he shoots a look to Melaana, who smiles innocently. "Very intelligent."

Little Pascal slides off his chair and climbs into Kallus' lap before his parents can protest. "Did you really save all the Lasats?" He asks, looking up at Kallus with big blue eyes.

Kallus's lip stills and he smiles. "I did. I can tell you all about it if you like."

After the story is told and the breakfast dishes cleared away, Sierra and Kallus say goodbye to the Kryzes and board the ship.

"So the kids were pretty cute," she says as they leave orbit. He looked pretty cute with them too, but she doesn't mention that.

He turns in his seat. "You're not…"

"No! I'm on the hypo." Another thought comes to her. "Don't tell me you're getting any ideas."

"Oh no! I am absolutely fine with sending them back to their parents at the end of the day." Kallus throws up his hands.

"I'm glad we're on the same page." She smiles to herself while she lays their course into the nav computer and engages the hyperdrive.

Talking about the potential consequences of their affair makes it more real. Kallus clears his throat: "About last night. It was…"

"Amazing." It sure was. If only she'd met him instead of that hotshot pilot when she was young and stupid.

"That's one way of saying it." Obviously the enjoyment was mutual. "I wanted to ask, just because we … you know, it doesn't mean —."

"Oh, no," she forces a laugh. "Definitely a one-time thing."

"Good," he sinks into his seat as the blue void of hyperspace opens up before them, though he's still far too stiff to actually relax. "I didn't want anything to be awkward or confusing. Glad it's a one-time thing."

They stare at the nothingness ahead of them. Say what you will about hyperspace travel, it's incredibly boring. And it's going to be a very long flight.

Sierra spins in her seat. "Want to make it a two-time thing?"

...

When it gets to being a fifteen-time thing, after ten more jobs and spending every waking and non-waking moment together, Sierra decides it's getting a little ridiculous pretending this is a temporary, casual affair. Maybe she could discount it if they were drunk, but they weren't, and last night she and Kallus actually had a conversation that wasn't about the job or their other type of partnership.

She missed having people, she realizes, and she likes having him around. He makes her feel not so alone, and accepted for who she is. Not Amanda or Emily or any of her other aliases, but her own oddball self. And last night, he made her laugh.

_Holy gods of Unifras, _she realizes. _I don't like having him here. I like _him.

How is she going to tell him? Should she even tell him? It's not like she's ever seen a normal relationship develop.

In the end she blurts it out one morning when Kallus gets out of bed. "If you want to move some of your stuff in here, that's okay."

Kallus stops. "What?"

She blushes. "It seems silly that you have to go all the way back to your room in the morning when there's plenty of space here."

It's not just that and he knows her too well to pretend it is. "You're certain?"

"You already sleep here every night. You don't have to, if you'd rather leave your things where they are."

"No, I'd like to. But sharing a bedroom like you're proposing sounds like more than casually enjoying each other's company." He returns to the bed. "I don't have any problem with it. You've never said anything edgewise."

She pulls on a T-shirt and gets out of bed, meeting him in the center of the room. "I wouldn't be making this offer if I wasn't serious."

Kallus smiles.

"Will you help me move then?"

…

Meanwhile on Mandalore…

Soniee Kryze finally battles through her to-do list and sends a long overdue comm to her old contact on Onderon. "Lux, hello. How are you doing?"

_"__Soniee! Long time, no see. I'm going great, so are Ahsoka and the kids. How's your family?"_

"They're wonderful, thanks to your sister." She smiles to herself thinking of how easy it was to rid Mandalore of the Cantilever group. "Your crew is in good lands. The agents did a remarkable job and they make a really cute couple too."

Dead silence from the other line.

_"__You're talking about Sierra? My sister Sierra?" _

"Yes…" Does Lux not know about Kallus?!

_"__Okay. Thank you for this development, Soniee. Have a great day." _

Lux hangs up. No sooner has the call disconnected than he opens his and Sierra's text thread and shoots off a message. He'll never get to the bottom of this if he asks straight out. Unfortunately for Sierra, she's not the only con artist in the galaxy.


	4. As Long As You're Mine

**AS LONG AS YOU'RE MINE**

Every moment  
As long as you're mine  
I'll wake up my body  
And make up for lost time

Say there's no future  
For us as a pair

And though I may know  
I don't care

They may not be Elphaba and Fiyero, and they may not be Wicked, but Sierra and Kallus are about to cause one Dxun of a splash back on Onderon courtesy of one little text message sent by Lux.

* * *

Sierra's comlink buzzes on the kitchen counter when she's trying to cook breakfast, and she picks it up with her free hand.

It's a message from Lux: COME HOME NOW. MOM'S HEART.

Sierra drops the spatula.

Kallus shuts the refrigerator door, jogan juice in hand. "Did you want toast or just eggs? I can start cooking if you - what's wrong?"

"My mom," she shows him the message. "I don't know how this happened. She's always been so healthy."

"We'll go right now." He puts the juice away, the meal preparation forgotten. "I'll fly."

She shouldn't fly anyway when she's so upset. If only she could text Lux while in hyperspace to get more information. Is her mom okay? Admitted to the medcenter? Did she have to have surgery?

Kallus puts the ship on autopilot and returns to the common room to sit with her.

"It won't take long to get to Onderon. In fact we'll probably get there before Lux expects us." He attempts a reassuring smile. "I don't know your mother, but I think it would take more than heart trouble to get Mina BonScary down."

"It would." She squeezes his hand. "Thank you, Alexsandr."

…

Ahsoka sees the ship land beside her house and, not knowing what could prompt an unannounced visit, hurries to the door just as Sierra and - is that Alexsandr Kallus? - race down the boarding ramp.

"Sierra?"

"Ahsoka! Where's my mom?"

"Your mom?" Ahsoka raises an eye marking. "I'd assume she's at home. Does she know you're coming?"

"At home?" Sierra repeats. "What medcenter let her go home so early?"

"Back up. _Medcenter? _What medcenter?"

"Lux texted me saying something was wrong with her…" Sierra's face turns into something Ahsoka's only seen on Mina. Apparently BonScary is genetic. "Tell me where Lux is."

"He's in the shower." Ahsoka stands aside and grabs Kallus to ensure he doesn't try to follow.

He watches her go. "This isn't going to end well."

"They've been doing this since before they met either of us," Ahsoka pats his shoulder on the release. "They'll be fine."

Upstairs there's an almighty pound on the door and Sierra bellows: _"The kriff gives, Lux?!"_

_"__I'm in the shower!" _

_"__I was cooking when you texted me saying Mom had a heart attack!" _

_"__First I never said heart attack, second you wouldn't come home otherwise. Soniee said you were in a new relationship and I wanted to make sure you were okay." _

_"__You lied to me, pulled me away from a potential job and made me race halfway across the galaxy so you could monitor my love life?! What are you, the kriffing relationship police?" _

Ahsoka whistles. "She's not happy."

Kallus explains the text message. "Did you know anything about this?"

"No. Not even the part about the relationship." Now it's obvious even without using the Force. "How long have you been together?"

He goes with the official date: "A couple of days." That's better than explaining their "temporary fling" to Sierra's sister-in-law _and _his former superior. "I wasn't expecting to meet the family _this _early."

Ahsoka must know it's bull, but she's cut off by the Bonteris returning downstairs, Lux hastily dressed and looking harried and Sierra still shouting at him.

"I can't believe you!" She looks about one second away from physically beating her brother. "What if we'd gotten into a starship crash because we were flying so fast? What if we'd gone straight to the medcenter and someone saw us? There are warrants out for my arrest and Alex's!"

"Alex?" Lux sees the man in question for the first time and his eyes go huge: "Your boyfriend is _Kallus?"_

"What do you care?"

"I care because you fell in love with the mark! We conned him _twice!"_

Kallus coughs. "Wait, twice?"

"The first time was the Amanda Bankole thing. The second time we got you to arrest the real mark," Ahsoka explains.

Sierra ignores them. "We conned him before he defected to the rebellion. Now he's my partner. You know like you and Ahsoka are partners and you didn't have any problem marrying her!"

"Who said anything about marrying?" Lux sputters. "How serious is this relationship? Maybe I should be worried about you giving our dear mother a heart attack."

"Oh please. If anyone's going to do that, it's you and your hairbrained schemes."

"How long have you two been together?" He repeats, just as much to Kallus as Sierra.

"A few days," Kallus answers. Better keep things consistent.

"What?! And you already brought him to meet us?"

"I wouldn't if you hadn't _lied to me!" _

Ahsoka steps back from the impending disaster and places a comm: "Mina, hi. Just wanted to let you know Sierra's back in town and she brought a boyfriend."

_"__A boyfriend? Who is it?" _She can't tell if Mina sounds apprehensive or excited.

"Oh he's great. I worked with him when I was Fulcrum."

Mina sighs._ "Oh, thank God. For a second I thought we were back to the flyboy stage. Don't scare him off. I'm on my way." _

…

The rest of the crew appears in the space of ten minutes, led by Mina. To Ahsoka's and Kallus's relief, the sibling argument stops the second the combatants' mom walks through the door.

"Mom?"

Mina ignores the situation with the grace only one who's spent decades corralling this particular pair can muster. "Sierra! You didn't tell me you were coming home." She hugs her daughter.

"It was sort of a last-minute thing," Sierra shoots Lux one final, black look over Mina's shoulder. "It's good to be home."

"It's good to have you." Mina pretends to just notice Kallus as if she wasn't sizing him up the minute she hit the door. "I don't think I've met your friend."

"Right," She clears her throat and stands beside poor neglected Kallus. "Mom, this is Alexsandr Kallus. We work together and we're dating now."

"Charmed," Kallus offers his hand.

Mina's expression remains pleasant but he knows when he's being sized up. Mina takes in everything from his outfit to his handgrip and Kallus wills himself not to sweat. If anyone in the galaxy can make him disappear overnight, it's Mina Bonteri.

But she releases his hand and smiles. "It's good to meet you, Kallus."

As both Kallus and Sierra attempt not to collapse from relief, Mina moves on. "Lux I hope you have a clear schedule this evening. This occasion calls for pizza."

She claps Lux on the back. Firmly.

"In fact, I already ordered it. Rex and Steela are picking up the pies."

Everyone else arrives with Rex and Steela and the pizzas. They're thrilled to see Sierra again, especially Steela. Apparently they showed up on her and Rex's three-month wedding anniversary.

Rex is the first of the newcomers to pay Kallus any attention while his wife hugs Sierra. "Kallus?"

"Captain." He nods stiffly, not really wanting to hug anyone. "Congratulations on your anniversary. I didn't know you were married."

"Sorry we misplaced your invitation. So you're working with Sierra?" Kallus nods and Rex snorts. "Has she drove you crazy yet?"

He smirks. "She tries."

Sierra throws him a playful glare as she returns to his side. "I do not."

"You do when we're in a store. The last time we went you bought a frightening number of shoes."

"You didn't seem to have a problem carrying the boxes." She wraps an arm around him and Kallus is reminded of what happened when they returned to the ship that day. Definitely worth carrying some shoes.

Lux narrows his eyes at Kallus and Ahsoka elbows him.

"Excuse me?" Hutch interrupts from the dining room. "If you all don't get in here and eat this pizza, I'm gonna start without you."

...

It's a nice dinner, no one can deny it. The ex-con men want to hear all about Sierra's exploits. Lux seems particularly interested in how she and Kallus met, and what Kallus was doing just before that. Sierra wants to hear how Rex and Steela are adjusting to married life. She also wants to know how Lux knows about them doing a job for Korkie and Soniee even though he denies it. Hutch wants to eat pizza.

"I'm sorry you got dragged into meeting them so soon," she says when she and Kallus return to the ship. "I meant to give you some warning before you had to deal with Lux. He means well, really, he's just overprotective."

"It's fine," Kallus says quickly. "Your family is … nice."

"Oh. Glad they didn't freak you out."

He opens his mouth to say something but thinks different. "I'm going to shower," he says quickly and walks off before she can say anything.

…

"Hutch!" Lux wakes his friend from his pizza-induced coma. "I need a deep-dive on Alexsandr Kallus."

"No," Hutch groans. "Your wife knows him. If you want to stalk your sister's boyfriend, do it yourself. He seems great."

"I know. _Too _great," Lux growls. "He has to be hiding something and I need to know what it is. There's no one better at digging up dirt than you."

"This couldn't wait until the morning?"

"Not if Sierra flies off with this kriffer!" He taps the desk in front of Hutch. "Please?"

Hutch sighs. "Fine. But I'm gonna check my messages - hang on. I think Soniee did the work for us."

"What?"

Hutch turns the monitor so Lux can read. He's pulled up a HoloMail from Soniee Kryze - or more accurately from her hacker handle, Commander Mando Girl.

_Dear Cashier From Hell, _

_Three months ago your grifter and her new partner worked for me, and when I commed your mastermind to thank him for their services I mentioned they were a couple. They were adorable together when they were here, but I realize now I might have sprung them on you. I thought I'd prove to you that he really is a great guy (and hopefully save you from the deep-dive Lux would make you do)_

_You're welcome, _

_Commander Mando Girl _

"Gods Soniee, if we weren't both married with kids I could kiss you."

Lux ignores him and opens the attached background check. _Alexsandr Kallus, top of his class at the Imperial Academy. Entered Imperial Security Bureau and eventually attained rank of ISB-021. Sole survivor of attack on his unit on Onderon. Notable accomplishments include participating in the cleansing of Lasan, arrest of Lieutenant Jovan … _he skims the rest. All normal Imperial stuff and Sierra won't think twice about that.

"There!" he points to the screen. "He has a criminal record!"

"Are you kidding me?" Hutch scoffs. "He's got one arrest for treason against the Empire. And that assault charge is against Thrawn, when Kallus defected. I think that's all justified. And who are you to knock a criminal record? I'd have to use a whole ream of flimsi if I wanted to print out yours. A _damn _ream!"

"Well then what else did Soniee dig up? There has to be something."

"Maybe he's genuinely a good guy. Did you think of that?"

Lux scowls.

"Don't wanna believe it, then you can not believe it at your own house." Hutch shuts off the computer monitor. "But leave, so I can sleep."

Lux does. He would go to Saw, except that Saw's not going to be any help. His brother said as much during dinner. _"Sierra's a good judge of character. If she thought something was wrong with him she woulda killed him already. 'Sides he's worked with 'Soka. He's cool."_

Sierra does have good instincts. And as she painfully reminded him, she's a grown woman. She can make her own decisions. All Lux can do is wait for the first inkling that something's wrong, and then smash Alexsandr Kallus into a pulp.

…

Kallus takes half an hour in the refresher.

For someone who normally showers in two minutes, max, it's like shooting off a signal flare. People don't just throw away years of habit overnight. Not unless there's something very wrong.

As Sierra approaches she's shocked to hear the shower still running. Did he pass out?

She knocks. "Alexsandr?"

The water shuts off, so at least he's still conscious, but Kallus doesn't verbally respond. Instead he makes a choking sound.

Sierra jimmies the lock and bursts in prepared to call for help or resuscitate him herself, but she doesn't have to. Kallus leans forward with his hands braced on the sink, not choking or vomiting but crying.

He looks over his shoulder. "I locked the door."

"I thought you were hurt," Crying is almost worse - she has no idea what could have reduced him to tears. "What's wrong? Who do I have to kill?"

"It's nothing."

"No it's not." She swears. "It's Lux, isn't it? Hang on; I'll be back."

"Don't," he lets go of the sink. "Your family was wonderful. They were good to me, even when your sister gave me the shovel talk. She said that while Lux was serious about doing me bodily harm if I ever hurt you, she would come after me as well. She mentioned having a friend with access to sailing ships. Apparently no one would ever find my remains."

"Steela!" She hadn't worried about her! "Did she scare you?"

"No." He tears up again and stubbornly wipes them away. "Your family loves you. They want to protect you and support you no matter what and mine -." he swallows hard. "They didn't. When I needed them most, they made it clear they wanted nothing to do with me."

"They disowned you."

"I suppose that's the word for it."

Sierra doesn't think of herself as a violent person. When she wants revenge she gets it by ruining lives without drawing blood. But looking at Kallus's face right now, she finds that she'd like nothing more than to beat the people who made him feel like this to a bloody pulp.

"Thrawn notified them when I defected and forced me to watch a recording of their reactions. I was so sure it was a mind game I didn't believe it at first. Not until I tried to contact them afterward." Kallus clenches his hands into fists, so tightly his knuckles go white. "My mother told me she never wanted to hear from me again, and neither did my father or my siblings. Then she hung up on me."

She doesn't know what to say. There is nothing to say. She takes his fists in her own hands and massages them until they relax.

"Let's go to bed." She doesn't want to leave him alone, and sleeping in her makeup for one night won't kill her. They're not going to get anything done with Kallus so horribly upset anyway.

He doesn't reply until they're both in bed, the lights off and the darkness creating so much a confessional. "I gave Angelica's boyfriend the shovel talk gods know how many years ago. Angelica is my sister. She married that boyfriend."

"Does he meet your standards?"

"He does. He and Angelica are both doctors; they spend their days saving lives."

"As opposed to your girlfriend who destroys lives for a living." She laughs darkly.

"You save more lives than you ruin," He squeezes her hand in the darkness. "Sometimes I look them up on the HoloNet to make sure they're okay. I miss them more than everyone else."

"Who's everyone else?"

"My brother Aariin." She can practically hear him roll his eyes. "He went Navy when I went ISB. He's very like our father. Military-minded, disciplined..."

"Pompous moral crusader with a stick up his ass?"

It's his turn to laugh. "Pretty much. He was always sore he couldn't get into the ISB when I could. My mother's not bad though. I would have never expected her to say what she did until I heard her myself."

Well Sierra knows who she's killing when she gets the chance. Angelica can have a pass on the grounds she's a doctor, but everyone else is very dead.

"She's a wonderful cook," he continues. "Your friend Hero's side dishes were what pushed me over the edge tonight. I haven't had home cooked food since my mother's."

_Then I'm going to cook you something. I hate cooking, but wait until you try my macaroni and cheese. Hero gave me her recipe so I wouldn't starve to death. _

She tables her fantasies of making Kallus happy while inflicting pain on those who hurt him when he crosses the invisible center line to her side of the bed.

"Thank you for bringing me to meet your family. Even if your brother tricked you."

They haven't been this close unless they're in bed together in another sense of the word. But this conversation seems more intimate than anything they've done before.

"Thank you for telling me about yours."

…

The next morning the family has breakfast together and when Kallus steps out to go to the 'fresher Sierra commands the table's attention.

"I know my and Alexsandr's relationship may have taken you all by surprise, and I know this is new territory for you because the rest of you were already paired up when were in the game. I understand you're doing what you do because you love me and care about me. I appreciate that."

"Good," Steela smiles and shares a victorious look with Lux.

"But I love Alex."

Mina gives everyone a _what did I tell you _look while Sierra addresses the table. "He doesn't have a family and he wants to be part of ours. Yes, he may have done some things in the past but he regrets them and he's making up for them. He helps people, he picks up where the law leaves off, in short he belongs with us. He doesn't deserve to lose another family." She leans over the table. "If any of you mess this up for him, I will never speak to you again and every credit to your names will disappear like cupcakes in a classroom full of kindergarteners!"

"We weren't going to mess anything up," Steela begins, but Sierra's not done.

"And by the way Steela, Dalla's not just _your _fence. She'd take me out sailing to hide your bodies any day of the week."

That's a massive stretch, especially considering that in addition to being their fence Dalla is also Lux's amicable ex and Steela's old friend. But the statement has the intended effect. Steela's jaw drops.

"Any day of the week!" Sierra says in closing and sits back down so Kallus won't suspect anything when he comes back.

Kallus returns to the table to a smug-looking Mina and Ahsoka, a shocked-looking Lux and Steela, and a warm reception from everyone else.

"What's with the flipped switch?" He asks later. "Lux went from wanting to kill me to inviting me to go have a drink with him."

_Still wouldn't go out for that drink if I were you. _"He must have warmed up to you. He may put on a tough exterior, but once you get past it he's really nice."

"And did you have anything to do with my getting past it?"

She can't help but smile. "Eh, maybe."

She feels rather than sees him smile back. "I would have done it myself eventually, if you'd only wait for it."

"Neither of us are particularly good at that."

"We're both non-stop, aren't we?" He holds her hips. "One of many reasons I love you."

_I love you. _

For once in her fast-talking life, Sierra Bonteri is too shocked to respond. All she can do is stare at him grinning like a schoolgirl.

He's grinning back.

_Don't just stand there, Sierra, say something! _"Alexsandr, I…"

"You don't have to say it. I know."

So she doesn't say it. She kisses him instead.


	5. Home

**HOME**

Kallus and Sierra take on a struggle most of us can relate to with the holiday season. But before that, let's take a look at their rather deceptive beginnings.

* * *

_Agent Alexsandr Kallus liked Internal Affairs. There was no better place to find the most dangerous threats to the Empire and ensure the continuation of order. However his place was in the field. He hated being stuck behind a desk doing paperwork and waiting on, of all things, a civilian consultant. _

_"__Agent Kallus?" a trooper's modulated voice got his attention. "Your consultant is waiting down the hall." _

_"__Thank you trooper." He picked up his datapad and walked with it. "Has she mentioned needing anything?" _

_"__Not yet sir. Um, there is one thing you should -." _

_Another stormtrooper rounded the corner apparently not seeing Kallus. "Did you see that suit down the hall? Solid eight!"_

_The trooper with Kallus froze. "Sir, this is -." _

_"__Don't worry about it," He waved off their concerns of a writeup or worse. "Just don't do it again." _

_He ignored their "sir yes sir!" and continued on his way. He wasn't worried about it. He was a consummate professional who wouldn't be distracted by a woman. _

_That was until he laid eyes on the consultant and his first thought was _Ten. Definitely a ten.

_Kallus, like most men, had a mental list of ideal physical traits for a potential partner. Not that he was looking, but he couldn't help but notice that the consultant ticked every single box. _

_She looked up from her comm unit and smiled. "Agent Kallus? I'm Amanda Bankole, attorney at law." _

_Kallus shook off the distraction. "Good to meet you." _

_"__Enough with the pleasantries," Bankole locked step with him. "Tell me what you've done in regards to the case." _

_He explained on the way to his office. "ISB is hoping you can look over the case files and provide insight into the targets' most likely next moves?" _

_"__Are these the case files in question?" She sat down at his desk without missing a beat. _

_"__They are. My reports are currently up and you can find legal briefs in -." _

_With a single deft motion, Bankole deleted the reports. _

_Kallus suppressed a sigh. This is why he hated working with civilians. "Allow me. I can bring them out of the deleted files." _

_"__No need. Nothing ruins a case faster than ISB playing psychologist." She hit a few more keys in quick succession, sending the deleted reports to the point of no return. _

_"__With all due respect Ms. Bankole, ISB is trained in psychological profiling and our insights have led to multiple arrests and convictions." _

_Bankole looked at him with a deeply pitying expression not unlike the one a kindergarten teacher would bestow on a particularly troublesome pupil. "Mmhmm." _

_Kallus's fists clenched. The ten was swiftly decreasing. _

…

Six months go by and Kallus is poring over their calendar while Sierra attempts to glue the stem back onto a broken wineglass. "We have a two-week free period coming up, don't we?"

"We do." She finally gets the stem and the glass lined up and presses hard so the glue will stick. "I haven't found something to fill the gap yet."

"Can we leave it like it is?" He asks. "There's something I need to do. It's personal, I can definitely handle it by myself, and this seems like a good time to take care of it."

Some women's suspicions would arise when their boyfriend asks for a two-week solo vacation without stating a purpose, but she trusts him. Besides, she has something she needs to do by herself as well. "That should work as long as you don't need the ship."

"Won't be a problem. Just drop me on Onderon and I can take it from there."

No time like the present. She programs the jump into the nav computer. "So what are you after on Onderon?"

"I didn't get to see much of the planet either time I've been there. It seems nice." He looks her up and down. "The scenery definitely is."

"Going sightseeing, are you?"

"All the sightseeing I need is right here. But I would like to get the feel for more of your family's culture, and I feel that's something I need to do alone."

Sierra finishes programming the jump and walks away from the console. "Of course. While we wait, what do you say about seeing one of Onderon's best attractions close-up?"

Kallus is already halfway to their cabin and undoing the buttons on his shirt. "Oh, please."

Several hours and a goodbye which takes a little longer than expected, Sierra leaves him on the landing pad congratulating herself on her good luck. She previously had no idea how she was going to shake him in order to get this done.

She sets a course for Coruscant, nearly squealing with anticipation.

…

Meanwhile Kallus makes his way to a nice, but not overly lavish, home near one of Onderon's art schools and knocks on the back door once, then twice in quick succession.

There's a shuffle of movement inside and a woman about his age answers the door. "How can I help you?"

"Is Dalla here?" he asks, brandishing a flimsi card stamped with the image of a seabird on one side. "I was told she was in the moving business."

"I don't know," the woman shrugs. "Who says?"

Kallus flips the card to reveal a bright red lipstick kiss. "Sierra Bonteri."

The woman - Dalla - rolls her eyes. "That woman's brazen if anything, leaving her DNA gods know where. So, how'd you get ahold of my card?"

"I live with her. The name's Kallus, Alexsandr Kallus."

"So _you're _Sierra's new partner. You're famous in these circles," She winks and steps aside. "Come in. Tell me what brings you here."

"I'm looking for an item you may have moved." He says as they make their way to the living room. "My girlfriend's mentioned it a few times."

"You'll have to be more specific." A somewhat shaggy-looking man rounds the corner, a smear of paint decorating his forehead. "We move some rather mentionable items."

"Bernard," Dalla gestures to her own forehead.

Bernard stops and takes a swipe at the paint, frowning when his hand comes away blue. He shrugs it off. "What were you looking for exactly?"

"The Amulet of Galia," Kallus shows them a picture on his comlink.

"Holy..." Bernard's eyes widen. "What are you going to do, propose?"

Kallus shakes his head. "Apparently her old crew went after it but they got sidetracked by a more important job. I thought I would give it to her as a gift."

Dalla whistles. "Men everywhere, take notes."

"Can you help me?"

"Well I can tell you I've never moved it. If I'd gotten my hands on it I would have kept it for myself." She turns to her husband. "What about you?"

"Nope." Bernard shakes his head. "Her engagement ring wasn't even as valuable as that amulet," he adds as an aside to Kallus.

Kallus takes a look at Dalla's finger. Going of the looks of the huge, clearly antique stone which denotes some priceless and probably ill-gotten artifact, this amulet is more than he bargained for. Sierra's going to love it.

"Where did you hear it was last?"

…

Mrs. Kallus answers the door shortly before her family sits down to dinner not knowing who it could be, but still not expecting a woman dressed in a tasteful skirt and sweater, holding a bottle of wine wrapped with a ribbon.

"Mrs. Kallus? It's so good to meet you. I'm Emma Brandt, your son's girlfriend." Sierra offers the wine bottle. "I'm not too early, am I?"

"No, we're about to sit down. I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting you."

Sierra's face clouds over "Aariin didn't tell you? He was supposed to come over this afternoon and tell you I was — oh, blast! He just texted me; he's tied up at work and can't make it. I'm sorry I dropped in on you like this."

Mrs. Kallus sighs internally. It's just like Aariin not to comm with important information until the very last second. She doesn't want to embarrass the woman any further, nor wreck her chances with the only woman Aariin's seen fit to bring home. "It's alright. Come in; we have plenty of food."

"Thank you." It was too easy to get rid of Aariin for the night. She just had to create a little chaos in his workplace that'll keep him busy for a good, long time. "I hope you all like Cabernet."

Mr. Kallus is exactly how she pictured him: the very picture of pre-defection Alexsandr, except even more stuck up, but not suspicious. In fact the only people who look suspicious at all are Dr. Angelica Kallus and her husband.

"You're Aariin's girlfriend?" she asks in disbelief. "How'd _that_ happen?"

"Angelica!" Mrs. Kallus raps.

"We met at work," Sierra replies. It's the only place Aariin could have met someone.

"Are you sure he didn't just stumble into your house and refuse to leave?" Angelica says and her husband snort-laughs in response. "You're a saint for putting up with him as long as you have."

"He has his challenges, but there's something about him. He's lovely."

Angelica extends her hand to shake. "Dr. Angelica Kallus, hospitalist at Coruscant General. This my husband, Dr. Owen Grey."

"Emergency medicine," Owen shakes her hand too.

_Of course they're a hospitalist and an ER doc. _She can't hate them now. Hospitalists and ER doctors saved her life when she was sixteen. "Pleased to meet you. Aariin's told me all about you."

Looks like Angelica doubts that as well, but in the interest of civility she keeps a lid on it while dinner is served. "So Mother, Father, how have you been?"

Sierra takes advantage of the attention straying from her to get a good look at the house. There has to be something here with sentimental value, something Kallus would want. The holos on the wall look promising at first, until she counts the heads and gets four instead of five. The oldest son has been carefully edited out of every frame. Even his growth marks on the door frame have been painted over.

Resolve renewed, she goes back to the dinner conversation and not a moment too soon. Angelica kicks her under the table and looks pointedly at the kitchen. "Can you help me with some drinks?"

"Sure," she follows Angelica into the kitchen and waits until the attention leaves them before saying anything. "Was this bad timing? If you and your husband were going to announce something then I don't want to steal your limelight."

"No, nothing like that. It's just … you are totally not Aariin's type. Not that he wouldn't kriff you if he got the chance but stick around and bring home to meet the parents? I don't think so." Angelica lowers her voice and looks back at the table, where Owen currently has the parents engaged. "Now if Sandr had ever brought somebody home…"

Sierra plays dumb. "Who's Sandr?"

"Our brother."

"Aariin never mentioned having a brother."

"Right."

"Okay." She lets the silence hang in the air like she's processing the information before she continues. "Fine, the truth. Aariin knows you all never expected him to get as serious with any one as we've gotten. He's super nervous to introduce you all to me and I thought I would take the first step."

"He doesn't know you came over tonight."

"I don't know, maybe I should just go. I mean he didn't want to introduce me to you all and he didn't even tell me he had a brother. Maybe I've been reading more into our relationship than is really there. I mean I really like him and I just wanted to make a good impression on you all."

Angelica bestows upon her the Doctor Smile. "You have. Believe me. I'm frankly proud of my brother for finding someone so perfect. I think it's him who doesn't deserve you."

"No, he's wonderful really. He's a little much at first but once I got to know him I found he was kind, and he cared. Really I don't deserve him."

The lie has no sooner left her mouth than she hears the front door open and a male voice, distinctly similar to the one she hears every day, says: "Is it still hot? Sorry I got held up at work."

Thank the gods she lied to Angelica because now she can say what she's thinking. _"Osik." _

...

Kallus takes a sip of the museum caf and decides that this, right here, is the worst caf in the galaxy. He tried to bring his own but the museum security guard, a police academy dropout on a power trip, barred his entry until he threw the cup away.

It wouldn't be a problem except for his disguise. No PhD student scrambling to finish his dissertation and running on caf and spite would be without their lifeblood for long. Around midday he went to buy caf and a sandwich from the museum cafe, and immediately regretted it.

Scowling he forces himself to drink the last of the caf and recount what he's learned. The amulet isn't on display, at least not now. The museum rotates out exhibits to minimize wear-and-tear on the artifacts and it's the amulet's turn to sit in storage.

Security's tough for a random thief — holocams, motion sensors, the works. He's not going to sneak in though. He's going to walk right through the front door.

He has Bernard to thank for the idea. While he was enjoying dinner with Bernard and Dalla and their teenage son, Bernard's comlink rang. It was a grad student working her way into a panic because she'd deleted half of her paper by accident and wouldn't have time to finish when she was doing her internship at the museum.

"Don't worry," he'd said and stepped into the projection field seamlessly. "I'll cover your shift so you have time to finish the paper."

Then the rest had been easy, when the director of the university's art department was on your side. Bernard printed him a badge, provided him with some assignment sheets to sell it, and Kallus took it from there. So far it hadn't been hard to sell the harried, jittery dissertation writer while examining the museum's various security systems. Now he was about to pull off the busy intern.

With a few muttered curses at his phantom dissertation he packs up his items and movsd to the staff entrance, grabbing a lab coat on his way down the stairs.

Kallus breezes through the main areas to the antiquities vault, muttering about Professor Wallace's class if anyone looks at him. He's in without a hitch. Stars, this is easier than he thought. He'll have to make up some more security to impress Sierra.

Kallus opens the crate and there it is. The Amulet of Galia.

He grins. He's going to enjoy the look on Sierra's face when she sees it.

The necklace isn't fragile, so he has no qualms picking it up and putting it in his pocket when he freezes. It's a little … light, isn't it?

…

_"__Osik!" _

"Don't worry," Angelica leads the way. "I'll handle my brother."

Sierra looks over her shoulder but kriff it, the Kalluses only have one door leading into or out of the apartment and she can't get to the fire escape without going through the living room which, with Mr. Kallus and now Aariin in it, has become a killbox. She'll have to brazen it out and pretend to be some crazed stalker.

"Aariin!" Mrs. Kallus greets her son. "We didn't think you were coming. Your girlfriend's already here and she said you were tied up at work."

"My girlfriend?"

Sierra fits herself in the doorway and tries to look sufficiently psycho. "Hi, Aariin."

Aariin looks her over and Sierra prepares to ratchet up the crazy when he breaks into a smile. "Hi babe. I wasn't expecting you."

He's going to play along? Maybe she hasn't used up all her lucky breaks yet. "I know it's a surprise but I said to myself, 'Emma, why not meet him for dinner?'"

Aariin nods. It's uncanny how much he looks like his brother. "Well I'm glad you're here. Shall we eat?"

"Already started," Angelica breezes past Sierra and shoves a bottle into her hands. "We were just getting some drinks."

Sierra pours for Aariin, then for herself and takes a seat. Throughout the meal she makes sure to drip-feed Aariin enough information to keep up the story, and play off what he says. It's a little like working with Alexsandr, if Alexsandr had absolutely no imagination and a terrible case of wandering eyes. No man trying to get his parents to approve of his girlfriend would stare at her all through dinner. But if the Kalluses' reactions are any measuring stick, then this is normal behavior from Aariin.

"I think we've all had enough to drink," he says as the meal draws to a close. "Would it be alright if we all stay here tonight?"

Angelica and Owen, who have had a bit too much, agree immediately but Mrs. Kallus pauses. "Where will we put Emma? After we got rid of your brother's — the other bed in your old room - there isn't a spare."

Alexsandr and Aariin used to share a room? A plan begins to form in Sierra's mind. If there's anything left from the past, it'll be there. "I can sleep on the floor Mrs. Kallus. It won't be a problem."

"No it won't," Aariin agrees and points down the hallway. "It's right this way."

She checks her wrist chrono before following him, taking in the faded spots on the wall where holos and certificates have been removed, and the dints in the carpet where Alexsandr's childhood bed used to be. Stars, is she going to make these people pay for erasing their son.

Aariin shuts the door behind them, leaning on the knob.

"So, who are you really?"

"What, I'm not your girlfriend now?" She shrugs. "Thanks for backing me up. I enjoyed your mom's dinner."

"As wonderful as her cooking is, no one would break into our home to get it. You have to have some other motive."

He and Alexsandr shared a room. There might be some long-buried childhood warmth between the brothers, especially since they're having this conversation in their shared bedroom. And even if there isn't, she can nudge Aariin into unconsciously giving up what she wants. "I didn't lie to your mother when I said I was her son's girlfriend."

_"__Alexsandr," _Aariin spits. "My gods, it figures! Only Alexsandr would have the tactlessness and the charm to send a hot chick to do even more damage to our family."

"What damage?"

"I don't know, whatever you have planned. He almost destroyed us when he went off joining those terrorists and then had the nerve to contact us after he escaped prison, asking if we needed a _rescue." _He scoffs. "I nearly lost my security clearance because of him. We should have gotten rid of him years before we did."

She can't resist throwing in one barb. "And how did that security clearance serve you when the Empire fell just two years after?"

"I work for one of the largest military contractors on Coruscant!" Aariin laughs. "I don't know what Alexsandr's doing today but I definitely do better than him."

Healthy bank account? Good, she knows what she's going to do with it. She has to keep him talking: "Since you don't have any inclination toward actually helping me, why did you play along all evening?"

He shrugs and blinks heavily. "There were better ways to figure you out. I figured I would take it slow and see if you'd show your hand before I acted. See if there was something I could use. The way I see it, you have two options."

Sierra looks at her wrist chrono. "Uh-huh."

"You can try to run for the exit, but as you'd have to go through both me and my father that won't end well. Or," he presses the locking mechanism on the doorknob. "I might be convinced not to tell them you're kriffing the prodigal son."

She doesn't respond and Aariin takes that as an answer in itself. He tries to take a step toward her, but sways wildly.

_Finally. _She was starting to wonder when the meds were going to kick in.

"What in hells?" Aariin mutters, grabbing the wall for support. "You…"

"Drugged you? Yeah, sorry about that but I'm sure you understand. And by the way..." Sierra grins wickedly. "However much you make with that defense contractor, I assure you Alexsandr does better. We're _so _rich. And he's in a league of his own in bed."

Too bad he didn't hear the last part. Aariin slides down the wall, at least sparing her from having to explain away a thump. Sierra doesn't bother rearranging his position. Instead she grabs his wallet and starts snapping holos of his credit cards.

…

No doubt about it. Kallus curses under his breath and stashes the penlight in his pocket. If the huge ruby in the center of the Amulet of Galia was genuine, then the beam of light from his penlight would go to the heart of the jewel. But when he tried the light bounced off the surface which can only mean one thing: it's paste. Impressively detailed paste, but paste all the same.

If this is a forgery, then where's the real amulet?! Kallus' mind ticks away. All that ISB training wasn't for nothing — he came to this planet with its kriffing humidity and the memories for an amulet, and he's leaving with an amulet so help him stars.

He takes a cleansing breath. The first step to narrowing down the thief's identity is to determine when the amulet was stolen. The switch would have to have occurred after the amulet was authenticated. Which would be documented, dated, and timed.

Kallus puts the forgery back and heads for the file cabinets. Looks like the amulet was last authenticated a month ago. The authenticator's report mentions nothing out of the ordinary, except ...wait. _Who _signed off on this?

He looks closer. The authenticator is none other than Dr. Bernard Wallace, who just last night denied ever seeing the amulet. Why would Bernard lie about that if all he did was authenticate it?

Kallus crinkles the flimsi sheet in his hands as he realizes the truth. Then he very calmly replaces it, and makes tracks for Bernard's office.

"Kallus?" Bernard startles when the man walks right into his office without knocking. "Can I help you?"

"You can. How long have you and Dalla been married?"

"Almost twenty years." Bernard raises an eyebrow. "Why? Did you change your mind about proposing?"

"Is she getting a necklace for an anniversary gift?"

"Oh no. I got her a nice watch."

"Really, because this is your signature on authentication flimziwork for the amulet you claim to never have seen." Kallus serves him the evidence. "Here's what I think happened: you used your clearance codes to get into the vault and switched the real amulet with a forgery. As the head of the art department, you're the de facto authenticator so you could easily pass off your forgery as the genuine article, and save the real amulet for your wife."

Silence.

Bernard kicks back in his seat. "You'll never find it."

"I used to be ISB, Wallace. I find _everything." _

Bernard's completely unfazed. "You know how much you love Sierra? Well, that's how much I love Dalla. I can't think of anyone else who I'd like to have that amulet more than my wife and the mother of my child, so forgive me for not giving up its location so you can give it to your girlfriend."

He knows it too. If he's going to do this, he'll have to lay it on thick. "Look, the amulet is my second choice gift. What I'd really like to give Sierra is the head of the man who nearly tortured her to death when she was a teenager. Unfortunately some prison gang with a toothbrush shiv took the honor of killing him from me, and from her. You can see some bauble from a gift shop just isn't going to cut it."

"You could take her to Bisney World," Bernard suggests, unruffled. "Everybody likes Bisney World."

What? He thought the Tor story would work on Bernard. _"Bisney World?" _

"Dal and I went there on our honeymoon. It's the happiest place in the galaxy."

Kallus growls under his breath. He isn't going to get anywhere with Bernard anytime soon. Might as well cut his losses here. "Well tell me how you'd plan this vacation. It has to be perfect."

...

"Why do we even torture ourselves coming here?" Angelica groans and stretches on her childhood bed.

"Because it's the only place we can afford to go out to eat with our student loans," Owen replies.

"Oh, right."

He shifts, trying to find a comfortable spot on the old mattress. "So what did you think about this Emma?"

"I like her. She's too good for Aariin. I told her to her face I didn't think she was his type; she's more like…" She trails off.

"I know that face. What's up?"

"This is going to sound crazy, but remember when Sandr texted me about that horrible lawyer woman he denied having a crush on, but definitely did?"

"It would be hard to forget." Owen smiles, remembering. "He was so worked up he was almost screeching. I didn't think it was possible for your brother to sound like that."

"Right. Even though he was complaining I could tell he was really attracted to this woman. So I said 'she sounds exactly like your type.'" She snorts. "He denied it and sent me a holo of the lawyer to prove she wasn't that hot anyway. Call me crazy, but Emma looks _just _like Amanda Bankole."

He sits up. "Do you still have the holo?"

"I never deleted it." Angelica scrolls through her text threads. "It won't be that far back. He didn't text all that much and then it was radio silence after he — oh my gods. Owen!"

Owen takes the comm unit from his wife's hand and stares. The woman in the candid shot captioned "Behold, the face of evil" didn't just look like Emma. She _was _Emma.

"Stars!" He blinks. "What's she doing here?"

"She's with Sandr and this family disowned him. If the roles were reversed wouldn't you want to seek a little revenge?"

"True. What do you want to do?"

"Give me a minute. Then we should at least try to save Aariin, not that he deserves it."

They don't have to worry about Aariin. When Owen muscles open the door they find Sierra sitting cross-legged on the bed, placidly typing on her comm unit like Aariin isn't slumped against the wall.

They expected nothing less. Sierra looks up from her unit and barely even tries to explain. "I guess he had a little more to drink than I thought. I can't pick him up."

"You wouldn't even if you could. You're not with him; you're with Sandr. You're Amanda Bankole." Angelica holds the holo out as proof.

Sierra's face falls for a half second. Then she shrugs. "I don't suppose it comes as a big surprise to you."

"Look Emma, Amanda, whoever you are, I don't care about Aariin as long as he's perfusing." Which he clearly is. "Is Sandr okay? I haven't heard from him in years and it keeps me up at night, wondering how he is. I didn't even know if he was alive, and…" she takes a deep breath. "I just need to know that he's healthy, and he's happy, and he's loved."

"He is." Sierra pauses. "At least I think he's healthy. He won't go to the doctor for anything."

Angelica rolls her eyes. That sounds like Sandr. "But he's happy doing whatever you do? Intelligence was his passion, he couldn't talk about much but he never shut up about how much he loved the strategy and the thinking."

"The line of work Alexsandr and I are in, while not terribly legal, employs a lot of strategy and does a lot of good. He loves it. And I love him." She swallows hard. "Very much."

Angelica doesn't doubt it. You'd have to love someone very much to infiltrate his family for the mere hope of getting something he wanted. She holds out a folded piece of flimsi. "Can you take this to him?"

Sierra doesn't move. It's like she's staring into Angelica's soul. "You didn't want to disown your brother, but when Thrawn called you were too afraid of the Empire not to do it."

She nods. "After the war was over I didn't have a way to contact him. Now I do." She holds out the flimsi again, and Sierra can see now that it's shaking with Angelica's hands. "He is my brother, and I love him. Please tell him for me."

She takes the flimsi. "For Alex, anything. Would you mind not calling the cops until Aariin wakes up?"

...

"You're early." Kallus greets Sierra at the bottom of the boarding ramp. Thank the gods he got his expedition wrapped up earlier than expected.

"Hello yourself," she kisses him. "I overestimated the traffic on the way back. How was your trip?"

"Productive. I brought you a souvenir."

"Really? Thank you. Would you believe I have something for you too?"

"That's very thoughtful of you. So where were you?"

She doesn't lie. "I had some business on Coruscant. Tying up loose ends with old associates, establishing new channels there. And then the capital has some truly lovely shoe stores."

He doesn't even sigh when she mentions shoe shopping. He must really be excited to give her this gift. She can't blame him, she can't wait to see the look on his face when she shows him his. "Do you want to get something to eat and then we can show each other?"

"We have some nuna breasts in the freezer unless you made them up. I'll put them in the oven."

She makes up a salad while he preheats the oven.

"Here," Kallus places an envelope in her hands when dinner's cooking. "Your gift."

Sierra opens the envelope and her jaw drops. "This isn't…"

"It is," Kallus preens. "Do you like it? I heard it had caught your attention."

Still unable to believe her eyes Sierra lifts the Amulet of Galia out of the envelope. "How?! Last I heard it was stolen and in some moff's private collection!"

"Oh it was a challenge. But in the end, it boiled down to a basic switch."

_Across the city, Bernard watches his wife's eyes light up when she opens the box with her anniversary gift inside, and then feels his own face fall when she removes two tickets to Bisney World. _

_"__Are you serious?" Dalla nearly squeals. "We haven't been on vacation in years! I can't wait!"_

_"__I can't wait to go with you, honey," Bernard replies while thinking of all the ways to kill Alexsandr Kallus. _

"Can I help you put it on?" Kallus asks.

"Please do." She wouldn't deny him this, and her hands are trembling too badly to work the clasp anyway.

Kallus clasps the chain around her neck, centering the amulet against her breastbone, and Sierra's sure this is it. There could only be a few reasons for his solo visit to her home planet where her family is conveniently located, and the way he's looking at her right now is totally proposal eyes. And he just gave her the Amulet of Galia! True it's not a ring, but why would a man procure something this valuable _except _to propose?

"Thank you," she says, and waits for it.

And waits for it.

"You're welcome," Kallus says and makes his way to the fridge.

The sound of the fridge door opening dashes Sierra's expectations and leaves her scrambling to not look ungrateful. "Did you want to see what I got you?"

"Sure." He emerges with a bottle of ale in his hand. "Especially if it involves a - is it on the HoloNet?"

"Yes," Sierra turns her computer screen so he can see. "Check this out."

Kallus leans in so he can see: "'Defense contractor Aariin Kallus was escorted from his office today after failing a drug test.' That doesn't make any sense; Aariin doesn't ...use...drugs." He turns slowly to her, a grin spreading across his face. "You did this?"

"Isn't revenge sweet?"

"Gods, yes!" He hugs her tightly. "His face is priceless. When my father sees this…" He freezes. "You didn't do anything to Angelica, did you? Her hospital was understaffed last I spoke to her, and she has a lot of debt from medical school."

"I met her and I can see why you like her. She's very nice." Sierra removes Angelica's note from her pocket. "She sent this with me."

Kallus unfolds the little piece of flimsi and reads it in silence. Halfway through he laughs and his eyes fill with tears at the same time. "She doesn't know your name. She keeps calling you 'Emma slash Amanda slash whoever she is.' She says she's proud of me for finally admitting the lawyer terrorizing my workplace was attractive, and she loves me even though I'm terrible about getting my health checkups."

"She misses you Alex. She went along with the rest of your family because she was scared of what the Empire could do to her."

"She says as much in here. And she left her number. She wants me to comm her so I can tell her all about how I came to be with you." He folds the flimsi almost lovingly, and - bloody Dxun, if Sierra thought he had proposal eyes before, they have _nothing _on what Kallus is giving her now. He looks at her like she's the most beautiful of the angels from Iego's moons. Or the brightest star in the galaxy. Something along those lines.

"Thank you," he says. "I can't even tell you how much this means to me, but thank you. You gave me my sister back."

"You're welcome. I love you."

Kallus brightens, if it's even possible for him to shine more than he already is.

"So, shall we comm Angelica?"


	6. For Once In My Life

**FOR ONCE IN MY LIFE**

_Agent Kallus hated the idea of calling on Minister Tua, of all people, for help. The woman had proven herself time and again to be nothing but a bumbling fool who created more problems than she solved, but she had the potential to help rid him of a much bigger thorn in his side. _

_"__So where are we going?" said thorn asked in her deeply irritating voice. _

_Kallus tried not to look at Amanda Bankole. "The minister has been summoned to this building. I've offered to give her a ride." _

_"__So you're a chauffeur now?" Bankole shot back. _

_Kallus didn't glorify it with an answer. _

_"__Even if you suddenly have time to ferry around politicians remember I'm billing the Empire by the hour. I'm sure Lyste can provide me with anything I need to continue working here." _

_He didn't doubt it. Even if she wasn't the point of this little excursion he wouldn't leave her - she'd be running the Imperial Complex by the time he got back. "Protocol states I'm to accompany any civilian consultants at all times." _

_"__It's your pocketbook." She made for the passenger seat but Kallus stepped in front of the door. _

_"__Allow me," he said and opened the door to the backseat. _

_She shrugged and got in. Kallus relished the tiny victory all the way to the driver's seat. He even managed to mostly ignore her the entire way to the office. Things were finally starting to go his way. Now all he had to do was let the minister see what a menace Bankole was, which should be accomplished during the speeder ride, and she would immediately label her persona non grata and Kallus could kick her off Lothal. He couldn't wait. _

_"__Minister Tua," he said proudly as he opened the speeder door. "May I introduce you to Amanda Bankole, the consultant I'm currently working with." He couldn't not sneer on currently. _

_"__A pleasure," Bankole extended her hand. "I've heard of all the good you've done for Lothal. It's very impressive." _

Dig your own grave, you abominable woman_. Kallus got behind the wheel and pulled into traffic. _

_"__Well thank you," Tua said. "I try my best to balance the needs of everyone." _

_"__Oh definitely. And by the way, that lipstick looks great on you." _

_Kallus froze in the driver's seat. _No…

_"__Really?" Tua's hand went to her lips. "I didn't know if it was too dark." _

_"__No it's perfect. It makes a statement." _

_She was making friends with Minister Tua! _

_Kallus gripped the steering wheel so hard he might crush it. Of course Bankole would do this, and Tua was eating it up! How could she be so stupid to fall for such elementary manipulation? And what's more how could he have been so stupid to not see it coming?! _What in the name of all that was holy in the galaxy was she doing to him?!

_His entire body held rock-hard with tension, Kallus mashed his foot on the accelerator and sailed through a stop sign without even slowing down. _

_"__Agent Kallus!" Minister Tua screamed as he did it but he barely even heard her. He just kept going down the road ignoring stop signs and pedestrians until the flashing lights and sirens of the pursuing police speeders broke through his brain fog and he pulled over. _

_"__What were you thinking?" Tua gasped after he'd put the speeder in park. "I don't know what to think anymore, Agent. You told me you were having problems with your consultant but she's been perfectly lovely and after seeing this behavior from you -." _

_"__It's okay Minister." Bankole put her hand on Tua's shoulder. "We'll have the stormtroopers drive us back to the Imperial Complex while they deal with Agent Kallus." _

_Kallus twitched. If they weren't surrounded by Minister Tua and gods knew how many troopers, he would have reached back and ended Amanda Bankole right then and there. Really, he would have. _

_As it was, the patrol trooper who approached his window after the women had exited the speeder was treated to the picture of a man on his very last nerve. _

_"__Do _not _give me a ticket," Kallus growled. _

…

Kallus wakes in the middle of the night, thrown off by the time change between Onderon and what they usually keep on the ship. He doesn't mind; it's parsecs better than being woken up by a nightmare of the massacre on Onderon or Lasan, or anything else he did in service to the Empire.

Beside him Sierra shifts in her sleep. Kallus rolls over, staring at the ceiling in hopes he'll fall back asleep soon. He likes having her beside him, at least when she's not complaining that he's touching her with his ice cold feet or he wakes up with a faceful of hair. It's just … nice, like their whole relationship. That's why he wanted to give her that amulet, to show her how much he appreciates everything she does just by being there.

The amulet. Call him crazy, but did she seem a little disappointed shortly after he gave it to her? He doesn't know why. She was thrilled to bits when she opened it, and her hands were shaking from excitement. It's sort of like she was expecting him to do something else. Maybe kiss her? He should have done that. It makes him happy to make her happy, more than it logically should.

She's become a constant in his life - an unrepentant, eyeroll-inducing, shoe-mongering constant. Who also makes him laugh, sits with him when he has a bad day, and always has his back no matter what. He never wants to be without her.

He kind of wants to...marry her.

Kallus turns his head only so he doesn't wake her up and looks at the woman sleeping beside him. Sierra's mouth fell open so she's drooling on the pillow and gods help him, no matter how hard he tries he can't picture a future without her drooling on a pillow next to him.

He _really _wants to marry her. And he's starting to realize why Sierra was disappointed right after she got the amulet. He would be too if he thought he was getting proposed to.

Wait. If he wants to get married, he has to ask. He has to propose. _How am I supposed to do that? _For most of his life he was thinking he'd never have to propose to anyone, much less the biggest romantic he's ever met.

When Owen proposed to Angelica, he did it at the bus stop when she returned from taking her residency boards. He made a poster that said "Will you marry me?" and held it up when she got off the bus. It worked, but Kallus refuses to do that. He's not going to stand there with a sign like one of those advertising guys and tempt photo ops from every being with a holocam.

Officially giving up on sleep, Kallus makes a mental list. He needs a ring. He needs a plan. And force almighty, he needs help.

...

To do any of that he needs to find some time in private. It's going to take time and dedication to get this done right and he doesn't want her to get suspicious. The night before they have a day off he searches the HoloNet looking for an appropriate distraction and hits pay dirt: a soap and makeup store is having a sale. Kallus likens the place to the ninth circle of Hell, but Sierra will spend hours there trying out the testers and comparing lipstick shades. Especially when they're buy-one-get-one free.

He hits print and throws the page on top of the newsflimzi while Sierra's in the 'fresher, so it looks like an ad that fell out. Then he just waits.

Sure enough she finds it when she sits at the table with her caf. Kallus manages not to stare when she picks up the printout and reads it carefully. There's no way she'll turn this down. Kallus has accompanied her on enough shopping expeditions to learn that twenty years of donating most of her crew's scores to the Alliance turned Sierra Bonteri into a voracious bargain hunter.

After a minute she takes the bait like a fish on a line: "I think I'm going to stop by this store. I'm getting low on lipstick."

"Have fun. While you're out could you pick me up some more toothpaste?"

"Sure," she grabs her purse and kisses his cheek on the way out. "Text me if you think of anything else."

The door shuts behind her and Kallus smiles to himself. He waits until she's gone for sure, then grabs one of her rings out of her jewelry box and heads for the jewelry store.

He knows what he wants and describes it to the shop assistant with surgical precision, handing over Sierra's ring as a size comparison. While she goes to the back to look for some options he feels his comlink buzz.

It's his proposal help group chat, lit up with a message from Zeb reading: _You serious?_

_Yes Garazeb, I'm serious _he texts back.

_SHUT THE FRONT DOOR_. Sabine Wren fires off a string of emojis. Kallus wasn't sure about including her in the chat, but he figured he needs the opinion of a woman who isn't family.

_Do you have a ring? _Zeb asks.

_At the jeweler's now. _

Sabine jumps back in: _HOLOS OR IT DIDN'T HAPPEN. _

He refuses to take a self-holo like some teenage girl. Instead Kallus snaps a holo of the display case. Sabine's reply is immediate and emoji-laden.

_I need your help figuring out how to do it. _

_I GOT IT I GOT IT._ Apparently Sabine is incapable of texting in anything but all caps. He should have known.

Zeb returns to the conversation with blessedly proper capitalization. _So which one are you going to get? _

_I'm not sure yet, _he replies, ignoring Sabine's vote for the most colorful ring in the holo. _She definitely wants a diamond. _Kallus now seriously doubts Sierra humming "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend" in his presence was just a coincidence. _Nothing too unique or she won't be able to wear it when she's working. _

"Excuse me sir?" The shop assistant said. "I have a few options for you."

Kallus puts his comm unit away, ignoring the texts still pouring in to give the shop assistant his full attention. She's brought three rings which more or less meet his specifications, but one jumps out at him almost immediately: a simple one with a white gold band and a round diamond set with tiny stones in a halo.

He picks it up. "How much?"

The shop assistant quotes him the price and for the first time Kallus sees this coming together. "I'll take it."

With the ring in his pocket he makes his way back to the ship to find a good hiding spot and check his texts before Sierra gets back.

The hiding spot is easy - Sierra never looks in his sock drawer - and at first glance it looks like the texts will be too. Just some questions and well-wishes from Zeb, and a single message from Sabine, which says OK HERE'S THE PLAN.

...With an attached file ten pages long.

Sierra walks in just as Kallus starts to question if he's having a stroke. He has years of training to thank for not jumping out of his skin when the door shuts.

"How was your morning?" She asks, not really looking at him while she unpacks her shopping bag.

"It was productive. Did you enjoy the sale?"

"I did and I got your toothpaste. Believe it or not it was — are you okay? You look sweaty."

"What?" Kallus closes out of Sabine's proposal plan as fast as humanly possible. "Oh, yes. I went for a run."

"...In those clothes?"

He looks down at his button-down shirt and slacks and races for an acceptable fib. "Working out in nonstandard clothing was part of my academy training. I want to stay sharp."

He knows even as he speaks there's no way she's going to buy it. Grift is her craft; there's no way she'd swallow such a half-assed attempt and it's clear from the look on her face that she doesn't. He braces himself for interrogation, for creating more and more lies until he can't possibly excavate himself.

"Okay," Sierra says, spends another half-second eyeballing him skeptically and goes back to her unpacking.

What? She doesn't believe his excuse so why is she letting it go? He could have been out doing a thousand unsavory things and she isn't going to explore them? Why in the name of all that's holy would she -?

_Because she trusts you, knucklehead _says the tiny sarcastic voice in his head which sounds a lot like Zeb. _She doesn't believe you were out for a run, but she trusts that you weren't out cheating on her or giving her up to the cops or a crime gang. Get used to it, Alex. _

Whatever he did in his trainwreck life to deserve this woman, Kallus would very much like to know.

"So what did you get?" He asks, trying to change the subject.

"A few lipsticks, body wash and lotion set…" her voice fades into the background as Kallus's gaze goes to something else on the table.

It's the ring he took as a size estimate. He forgot to put it back in his hurry to hide the engagement ring. When he sees it and its proximity to Sierra, Kallus's heart rate flips into overdrive. Very, very carefully he reaches across the table and palms the ring. Did Sierra see it? Would it have been better to just leave it there instead of drawing attention to it? Oh gods, did he just tank the whole thing?

"Are you sure you're okay, Alex?" Sierra's hand on his arm brings him back to the present. "You're starting to look flushed now."

He bets he does. He's just had two minor panic attacks in two minutes. "I'm fine, just a little warm. A shower might help."

"Probably. Here I got this body wash for you. It's supposed to help with stress relief."

"Thank you," he takes the bottle, absently wondering how to put the stress relief ingredient into an IV, and heads for the 'fresher. Once the water's running to muffle the sound of his voice he comms Sabine and says _"No." _

_"__What? Come on Kallus, I sent you the most romantic plan I could think of. Fireworks, music, dancing…" _

"I do not dance, Wren, nor do I sing." He's only sung once, when he was drunk, and he sounded like a dying purgill. "Do you have anything simpler?"

Sabine sighs. _"I mean, we could take out the music and the dancers, and just leave the fireworks." _

Proposing in front of a fireworks display. He vaguely recalls seeing it in a holomovie somewhere, and it's dignified enough he won't die of embarrassment doing it. And the explosions will drown out anything stupid he says. "Yes, that's good. We'll do that."

_"__It'll work, I guess. What colors do you want?" _

He's about to tell Sabine it doesn't matter what colors she uses when Sierra knocks. "Alex?"

Sabine's voice drops to a whisper: _"Are we busted?" _

Kallus ignores her, heart racing that they are. "Yes?"

But the timbre of Sierra's voice assures him she has something completely different on her mind: "Would a back massage help you feel better?"

Kallus hangs up on Sabine without another word, ignoring the Mandalorian's cackling.

…

_"__Ow!" _

_"__Oh my gods, are you okay?" _

_"__No!" _

Dr. Angelica Kallus likes her new job. After the dinner disaster on Coruscant and reconnecting with Sandr, she and Owen had decided to cut their losses and move offworld. Initially they were wary of leaving Coruscant General and working at a smaller medcenter on Lothal, but the staff were nothing but welcoming and Angelica loved working with the farming community.

Today's shaping up to be a completely normal day at work when she gets an overhead page: _Dr. Kallus, please report to Room 304 as soon as possible. _

"Angelica!" Sandr's girlfriend, who was apparently named not Emma or Amanda but Sierra, hurries to her side. "Thank gods, I didn't think I paged you correctly."

"You paged me?" Angelica stops and gets a good look at her for the first time. Does Sierra look a little disheveled? "What's wrong? Is Sandr okay?"

"No. He's the reason I paged you. We were..." Sierra chews her lip. "He fell in the shower and I think something's wrong with his arm."

Angelica decides she doesn't want to know why her brother fell in the shower. She locks stride with Sierra and leads the way into room 304.

Kallus sits on the edge of the bed, cradling his elbow.

"Hello Angelica," he says through gritted teeth. "I would hug you, but if someone doesn't fix my arm, I'm going to kill myself."

…

"Yep, that's a dislocated elbow," Owen says, leaning in to take a closer look. "We'll need an X-ray to be sure, but I think I can just pop it back in. We'll give you some pain medication to relax your muscles, and then it's a simple procedure."

"Let's get it over with," Kallus closes his eyes against the pain.

"Before I give you the drugs I need to know if you hit your head when you fell."

"No, I don't think so." He opens an eye a little to look to Sierra. "Did you see if I hit my head?"

Sierra shakes her head and Owen claps his hands. "Great. Now if we could just have a little privacy I'll get the medicine and we can get this show on the road."

Angelica and Sierra clear out not for what Sierra suspects isn't any medical reason, but so Owen can tease Kallus about the lipstick on his neck.

Sierra clears her throat. "There's actually something I need checked out too."

Angelica nods. "I was wondering when you were going to talk to me."

"Is it really that bad?" She rolls up her sleeve so Angelica can see the gash where she banged her arm on the shower's grab bar. "It doesn't look red or anything."

Angelica's brow furrows. "Sierra, are you looking for my help for your pregnancy or for some scrape?"

"What?"

Angelica blinks like a shaak in the headlights and every single nurse and aide at the nurses' station stares at them.

"You don't know?"

"No, I can't be pregnant. I get the hypo every three years, religiously, and I got my last one…" The color drains from Sierra's face. "Oh, kriff."

Angelica grabs her by the shoulder and all but shoves her into the nearest exam room. "I'll be right back."

"You didn't make up a chart, right?" Sierra bleats when Angelica returns.

"I did not. I think the medcenter can take the cost of one pregnancy test." She sits beside Sierra, test in gloved hand. "Ready to see the results?"

"No, but you'd better do it anyway." Sierra closes her eyes.

"...Oh."

She braces herself. "What?"

"It's inconclusive."

"Inconclusive?" She repeats. "This is a medcenter-grade test; how can it be inconclusive?"

"It might be faulty equipment or a contaminated sample, or you might not be far enough along for it to show up on a test." Angelica pitches the useless stick into the bin. "You'll have to wait two days, then take another test."

"Two days?!" She can't wait two hours!

"It's okay," Angelica strips off the gloves and places her hands on Sierra's shoulders. "We'll just go next door once Owen's done and tell Sandr."

"No!" Sierra jumps to her feet. "We're not telling Alex until we know for sure."

"You don't want him with you?"

She wants Kallus by her side more than anything. But springing this possibility on him while he's recovering from a dislocated elbow and acting weird the last few days doesn't seem like a good idea. "I just don't want him to be worried."

...

It's all come together. There's a fireworks display scheduled for tonight, they have plans to go there, his elbow is back in place, and he has the ring in his pocket. He's going to do it in just a few hours.

And he's sweating bullets, literally. By his count Kallus has changed his shirt three times. He's sure Sierra is suspicious but she's not asking, so he's not bringing it up.

_Pull yourself together! _He commands himself during the third shirt change. _You worked as Fulcrum under Thrawn's nose for months without batting an eye, and this gets you worked up? No. You're better than this. You will hold it together for eight hours until the fireworks show, and then you will propose confidently!_

He looks at the chrono.

_These are going to be the longest eight hours of my life. _

Oddly enough Sierra hasn't mentioned anything, and he assumes it's because she already knows and is trying to preserve his masculinity by staying quiet, a decision for which he's very grateful. In fact she looks a little distracted herself. For what he can't imagine - he knows she wants to get married but it's not like she's going to propose. She's most likely planning the wedding already.

Except what kind of wedding can they have? He'd like to just go to the courthouse and do it but being wanted in pretty much every system means they can't file for a marriage license. And as much as Sierra openly flaunts the law, he knows she wants to be married by something real too. Now it's a question of how to do that.

Oh, and if she'll agree to do it with him. Kallus shakes his head to clear it and returns to the cockpit and Sierra.

She startles and looks over her shoulder when he gets back, and when their eyes meet for just a second she looks worse than he does. Kallus's stomach jumps. Is she sick? Does she think he's sick or … did he miss his chance to propose? Does she not want to marry him anymore?

He needs to talk to her. Not just because of the proposal, but because they haven't talked all day.

"Sierra," he says the same moment she says "I need to -."

The comlink rings and Kallus swears. He would just switch it off but it's the distress tone, the one no one's supposed to use unless they're in grave danger.

"We'll talk later," she promises and leans in to read the caller's ID. "Zeb?"

_"__Zeb," _Kallus growls. Zeb knows what's happening today. If he used the distress tone just so he could give a pep talk, Kallus is going to reach through the unit and strangle the Lasat where he stands.

When Zeb materializes they both know instantly this is not a false alarm.

"Zeb? What's wrong?"

_"__Kal, Sierra, I'm sorry. I know you had plans but you're the only ones close enough to help." _Zeb goes on to explain his mission: in order to reduce the number of transports making the dangerous journey to and from Lira San, Lasat survivors from around the galaxy started to congregate on Lothal where an envoy from Lira San would then meet them and take them the rest of the way. Zeb, as a former honor guard and usually the survivors' first contact, was there.

_"__And then these guys showed up." _

"What kind of guys? Crime gang, Imperial holdouts?"

_"__Neither. They look more like private military." _

Sierra and Kallus share a suspicious look.

"How many?"

_"__Four at least, probably more. I've got what survivors I can hidden away in Jho's old bar, but we don't have a lot of time before they find us again. Sabine's at least a day out, Hera's farther, and gods know I can't call anyone else. I need you to get rid of these people." _

"Do you have any more information; anything that could help us?" Sierra asks. "Maybe the name of the firm or a superior officer?"

_"__No, but I think they're Coruscanti." _

"That helps. We'll be there in a few hours." She closes the connection and raises an eyebrow to Kallus. "Are you thinking who I'm thinking?"

"Definitely."

"Then do you have any idea how to get rid of him?"

"I know nothing gets under a being's skin like the team of Agent Kallus and Amanda Bankole."

She grins. "Gods, I love you."

If the situation wasn't wildly inappropriate he would propose right then and there. Instead Kallus settles for kissing her.

…

_"__This is Agent Peter Burke and I'd like to know what imbecile is running this operation!" _The mercenary pulls the comlink away from his ear a bit while the man on the other end reams into him. _"No one's answered this unit the last three times I've commed. My secretary can do better than this and we don't pay her half of what we're paying you. What kind of - nevermind, just tell me she isn't there yet." _

"What?" The mercenary asks. No one said anything about a female, well except for that one but the head office wouldn't call about her.

_"__Are you serious? From Legal? The one's who's here to audit you?" _

As the caller speaks, a smoking hot brunette in a power suit storms through the door, making a beeline for him.

"I think she's here sir."

The caller swears under his breath. _"Then nothing's going to save you from Amanda Bankole. Just do whatever she tells you. And _pray."

The mercenary hangs up and the brunette slams down her briefcase on the counter between them.

"Where are my files?" She demands. "Where are my Lasats? You idiots didn't even get me booked into my hotel!"

"I...um…" the mercenary scrambles. "I'll…"

"You know what? Just take me to my office and get out of my face." Sierra grabs the briefcase. "Oh, and you'd better believe I want to talk to whoever the hell is in charge!"

"Yeah, sure, of course! Right this way!" He scrambles to get her into the back, making a mental note not to tell his boss anything.

Once they get to the office Sierra glares until the mercenary buzzes off, then rolls her eyes.

"That was too easy."

_"__What can I say, you're amazing. You sound just like you did the day we met." _

"You mean the day I made you nearly punch a wall from sheer frustration?"

Kallus snorts and the earbud throws a little feedback with the sound. _"That's the day. Do you have anything?" _

"Not at the moment. Give me a few minutes before you move in, just so it looks good."

_"__I'm coming around the block now. And before you ask, yes, I have the credit reports. Enough for everyone." _

She smiles. Mercenaries only work if you pay them, and she'll very much enjoy the looks on their faces when they realize their employer doesn't have anything to shell out. "I wish we had a -."

"A cam? I have one."

Sierra's smile evaporates, though the voice isn't entirely a surprise. She knew she'd be dealing with him eventually. Just not so quickly.

"Aariin," she says evenly as she turns around, because there's no way he doesn't recognize her. "That was an impressive response time. Considering how you can't handle women, I thought you were going to hide from me for an hour at least.

"Don't waste your time boys," she waves expansively to the three mercenaries standing behind Aariin. "Last time your so-called boss and I met he passed out the second we were alone together and he gave me all his credit cards. As my boyfriend, who for the record is a _real _man, will show you as soon as he gets here, Aariin Kallus can't even get a payday loan, much less provide a payday for you."

The mercenaries don't move and neither does Aariin. "I know. That's why I paid them in advance."

"With what, sabaac cards?"

"No, with the credits I took from my father's retirement fund."

… Of course he stole credits from his father's retirement fund.

Aariin points to her and orders the mercenaries to "Make sure she won't be a problem for me anymore" when she hurls her briefcase at his head. And unlike Grand Admiral Thrawn, Aariin does not catch it.

Running through the wall of men won't work. She grabs the heaviest-looking object in reach. She'll have to brazen it out until Alex gets here or she gets lucky and someone drops a blaster.

All four men lunge together, and she knows she's kriffed.

"Alex, leave! Leave and get the Lasat out of here!"

She doesn't hear Kallus's response because Aariin punches her so hard her ears ring. She can only hope Alex listens to her.

Aariin grunts, pinning her to the desk: "You have the cleaver?"

A voice bellows "AARIIN!"

Everyone stops, and Sierra's heart sinks.

Kallus stands in the doorway, with a look which could scare a rancor.

"I am only going to say this once," he growls. "You will take your hands off Sierra. You will leave the Lasats alone. And you will do it_ now." _

Aariin rolls his eyes. "I think it would be more fun to watch your face when I cut her fingers off."

"More than you'd like to watch when you cut off mine?"

"Alex, no!" She screams.

But Aariin takes the bait and lets her go. "Take him."

Kallus steps into the office. "Sierra, go back to the ship."

"Like -."

_"__Go back to the ship." _

Does he have a plan? He never does anything without a plan? Or - Sierra's stomach plummets as she realizes it's probably the truth - was his plan just to stop Aariin from cutting her fingers off?

Her eyes meet his, and for just a second she sees them soften.

"Please."

Why can she never say no to him?

She runs out of the office, looking over her shoulder as Kallus throws himself at the men. She's seen him fight before and take out enemies without breaking a sweat, but there are _four _of them and Kallus dislocated his elbow last week.

Kallus grunts and she forces herself to ignore the sound from the comms. _Gods, keep him!_

…

Sierra doesn't stop running until she gets to Zeb's place.

"Sierra? Where's Kallus?" He opens the door instantly.

"It was a trap," she swears. "Alex's defense contractor brother. He probably only kriffed with your people to draw us out."

"Is he okay?!"

"He's alive. He's still on comms but it's not in his ear; Aariin must not know the units pick up."

"Which building?" Zeb's already grabbing his bo-rifle. "There aren't any other Lasats who can fight, but -."

The comm picks up a grunt from Kallus and Sierra winces. "Zeb, if they took Alex then they can definitely take you and I don't want to launch two rescue missions. Now do you have a holoprojector?"

"A _holoprojector? _How are you going to help Kallus with a holoprojector?"

Kallus groans and Sierra resists the urge to pull the bud from her ear. He's being hurt, and it's all her fault. If she hadn't gone and messed with Aariin, then they wouldn't have been in the situation where Alex decided to take her place. Selfless, principled Alex who always comes back, her partner and confidante for life and, if Angelica's right, the father of her child.

She is not sad. She is pissed.

She takes a deep breath and straightens, feeling like she's growing with every second. And to any outsider it looks like she has. Like her mother before her, Sierra's ascended to the peaks of rage. She has become BonScary.

Zeb sees her face and nearly drops his bo-rifle in his hurry to get her a holoprojector.

"Because Aariin doesn't know who I am. He thinks I'm just Alex's dame." If he did, he would've never let her leave. That's shaping up to be his fatal mistake. "Well, Aariin Kallus just messed with the wrong dame."


	7. Turn To Stone

**TURN TO STONE **

Let it be known that the main part of this chapter gets 1000 times better when you read it while listening to "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" by the Backstreet Boys.

* * *

_She was eating on his desk. _

_Kallus watched in equal parts horror and disbelief as Amanda Bankole sat on the edge of his desk and deposited a flimsi bag from a chain nuna restaurant beside her, unpacking the items with surgical precision. Sandwich, fries, various sauces, and a napkin to protect her pencil skirt. _

_How did someone like her even get ahold of the food?! Nuna-Fil-A was famous for its excellent customer service, but he doubted even they could deal with Bankole long enough for her to place an order, let alone get takeout. She was infuriating, impossible to manage and — he fought the urge to pinch himself to make sure this wasn't a nightmare — putting her drink on top of his documents._

_"__Agent Kallus?" Lyste asked from behind him, a distant second place for his attention. "Did you hear any of that?" _

_Kallus ignored him completely. "Why am I working with this attorney?"_

_"__We still need her to sort through the evidence," Lyste said evenly, the blockhead. "She's been a great help." _

_"__She's a distraction is what she is." Kallus had seen the looks his men gave Bankole, looks which didn't belong anywhere in the workplace. "She gets underfoot more than anything else and she's _getting sauce on my desk!"

_Lyste blinked. "What?" _

_...Had he actually said the last part aloud? He must have, because Bankole lifted her gaze from the food, looked him dead in the eye, and opened another sauce packet. _

_Kallus prided himself on his emotional control. He could stay calm through just about anything but there was something about this woman, like she was picking him apart with every glance and knew just what buttons to push to drive him over the edge. He thought he hated rebels. He thought he hated Lasats. But by all the stars in the galaxy, he knew he hated Amanda Bankole. _

_He couldn't stand by any longer, or he was going to snap between Lyste's idiocy and Bankole's mere presence. Kallus didn't even remember moving from Lyste's office to his desk. _

_Bankole took a long sip of soda and tipped her carton of fries toward him. "Fry?" _

_He did not respond, his eyeballs twitching with frustration. _

_In his office, Lyste sighed and pulled an envelope from his desk. It contained a bunch of credits and a betting sheet, titled "When is Kallus going to bag the lawyer?" He initially confiscated it, then went in for twenty cred, with the longest bet at a week. _

Come on Kallus. If you hang in there for one more day, I win.

...

Kallus is really regretting his and Sierra's arm-wrenching activities last week. When Aariin and his men finally beat him down they zip-tied his hands behind his head in a most uncomfortable manner.

Aariin swipes at his bloody nose. Kallus is proud of that bit of handiwork, as well as the black eye from Sierra's flying briefcase.

"If that's broken, don't ask Angelica to set it for you," he snarks. "She'll recant her medical oath and give you a beak."

"You know I used to like you," Aariin says over him. "You did your job, you didn't bother me when we had to cross paths, and it was good to tell people my brother was in the ISB. And then the one day I get a comm from Grand Admiral Thrawn, the comm I've been waiting for my entire life, it's because you decided to hook up with terrorists!"

Kallus stares straight ahead. "I'll have you know I didn't _hook up _with them. No one in Phoenix Group was my type."

"And you're joking about it." Aariin scoffs. "Do you even care what you did to my career? I lost _everything!" _

"You seem to be doing alright in the private sector."

"I was until your piece came in and wrecked my credit. I was serious about cutting her fingers off."

Kallus refuses to take such obvious bait and changes the subject. "Was your credit really so fragile it could be ruined by one woman buying shoes?"

That's not strictly true — Sierra didn't just go shopping, she took out enough loans in Aariin's name to well and truly obliterate his credit. Aariin goes red and hits him again, making his arms pull on the zip ties. Kriffing zip ties. For the umpteenth time Alexsandr tries to wiggle his hands out to no use. If Aariin had used regular binders he would have them off in a second, but there's no way out of a zip tie.

"Where'd you pick her up?" Aariin demands. "Was she hanging around your rebel base? Or hells, did you answer a HoloNet ad?"

Alexsandr doesn't glorify it with an answer, a little insulted that Aariin thinks such elementary tactics will work on him. Insulting his girlfriend? Please, he learned that his first day of interrogation training.

If the men holding him had _any _sense at all, they would have searched him and looked for evidence of a weak point among his belongings. They haven't — which both encourages and horrifies him, because he could have a kriffing bomb on his person and these fools wouldn't know and also because they managed to subdue him — so they haven't found the ring. If one of them grows a brain and finds it then Alex is sure Aariin will decide exactly which of his and Sierra's fingers he'd like to slice off.

"And what do you do that makes you 'so rich' anyway? Run around stealing from people?"

"Wait," one of the mercenaries whispers, a mite quicker on the uptake than the rest. "What did he say that woman's name was again?"

Luckily no one pays him any attention. Aariin, instead of doing the competent thing and changing tactics, keeps right on going down the same old circuit of their careers and Alex's relationship, and Alexsandr is left to wonder not for the first time how the household which produced himself and Angelica also produced a plain-spoken, know-nothing, skirt-chasing, cocky little son of a gun like Aariin.

The line of questioning circles back to Sierra, this time asking how much Alex is paying for her company. He refuses to let this get under his skin. It's stupid, and he hates that it makes him angry even a little.

But before he can take a deep breath to calm himself, he's thrown off by the feeling of his zip tie cuffs snapping.

Wisely he keeps his hands still and looks out his peripheral vision. The zip tie has been cut cleanly - but _how? _No one is standing within reach, and there's nothing it could have sliced itself on. It's like … Kallus slowly looks up … like someone slid a razor-sharp filament down from the ceiling, wove it between his wrist and the tie, and cut. It would take incredible skill and aim, and he can think of only one person in the known galaxy who could do it.

_No way. _

_Never fear, reinforcements are here! _

"Aariin," he says calmly, "You may not speak that way about my wife."

"What?"

"You're going to regret so much looking twice at my wife."

Aariin breaks into a grin thinking he's finally gained some ground: "I can say whatever I want about your -."

The last word in his sentence gets drowned out by the holoscreen behind him switching on with the speakers on full blast and Hutch St. James appears on the screen smirking like the tooka who ate the canary.

_"__What's up, my friends? Ready to get checked out?"_

"Oh hells no!" The semi-intelligent mercenary drops his blaster like a hot potato and bolts for the door. "I did not sign up for this!"

"What are you doing?!" Aariin demands.

"That lady's name was Sierra, and this guy -." He points to the holoscreen. "I ain't messing with the Bonteris! That's suicide!"

_"__Damn straight," _Hutch agrees. _"If I were you I'd start running." _

"There's nothing to run from!" Aariin shouts to the other mercenaries, who don't look so sure about staying. "He's just some loser with a computer; he can't do anything."

Alexsandr shakes his head. "Aariin, may the gods have mercy on your soul."

"What? He is!"

_"__Yeeehaaa!" _

A vent cover clatters to the floor followed quickly by Steela Gerrera, landing masterfully without making a sound aside from her battle cry.

"Sorry we took so long." She offers her hand to Kallus.

"You're just in time." He sputters as he gets to his feet. Hutch's intervention can be explained, but Steela's? She came out of retirement to save him?

He'd think the appearance of a woman from the ceiling vents would hold everyone's attention, but the novelty wears off in an instant. The door flies open, the lock broken in, and Saw and Rex stand by to admit the real stars of the show. Sierra's there, looking angrier than Kallus has ever seen her. And beside her stands a man in a suit, a suit that's creased like he hasn't worn it in a while but which he fills with a confidence bigger than the room.

Lux Bonteri strides in like he owns the place. "Gods, it's good to be back."

Aariin's jaw drops and the other mercenaries search the room for an escape route.

Sierra doesn't waste time with them. _"Alex!" _

Everyone in the room parts like the Red Sea for the furious woman, except for Kallus. He races from Steela's side and meets her halfway. She hugs him so tight it hurts but he doesn't care and hells, his grip is probably hurting her too.

"What were you thinking?!" She demands. "You could have - don't do that again! Do you hear me? _Never do that again!" _

"I hear you," he promises. "I can't believe it. You all -." He looks to all the con men, risen from the depths of retirement. "You all came for me?"

"Of course we came," Lux says. "You're family."

"Family? Who works as a - no way," Aariin looks from Alex, to Sierra, to Lux, then back again and his eyes go huge when he realizes the truth. "The Onderon Con Men? You're in bed with the _Onderon Con Men?!" _

"Not 'in bed with,'" Sierra snaps, wrapping an arm around Kallus' shoulders. "'Part of.'"

Never before has Kallus felt so loved.

"So you must be Aariin Kallus," Lux takes point. "Formerly of the Imperial Navy, recently fired from a Coruscanti defense contractor after failing a drug test. Mediocre at both, no good references, you haven't been able to hold down a steady job since, and you've practically used up all of your father's connections. What, were you trying to vent your anger by getting rid of your brother? Because I don't see how that accomplishes anything."

"He doesn't seem very good at planning ahead," Steela says.

"Considering he let the nastiest grifter in the known galaxy walk out his front door, I think that's a safe bet."

"No," Aariin gapes. "This isn't happening."

"Oh it definitely is," Sierra continues. "You don't think so, but I let you off easy last time."

"You paid these gentlemen with credits stolen from your father, right?" Lux asks. "You pinched some credits from your dad's main account and transferred them into one of your own, from which you wrote the necessary checks. But before they could through, you got a call from the bank. Looks like your math was wrong and you were about to overdraw the account, and the teller needed you to authorize another withdrawal from the main account to avoid an overdraft fee."

Aariin doesn't respond. He doesn't have to.

"Sorry, but it wasn't the bank."

"That's not possible! I spoke to at least ten people on that comm, both men and women, and you all were in hyperspace so you couldn't have been on the comm. The only person available would have been -." He goes to point to Sierra but when he sees her face his hand falls to the side. "Her."

"I've seen her play ten people before," Kallus says, gazing proudly at his girlfriend. "While drunk."

"Once I had the authorization codes it was easy to go back and authorize a real transfer. Except this one was for much more than an overdraft fee. Your dad wasn't happy when he saw it."

"So unhappy, in fact, that he took the advice of the bank president and alerted the Bounty Hunter's Guild," Lux continues. "Your bounty pucks are already in circulation. If I were you, I'd start running."

Kallus gives his brother one final, triumphant look. "Now."

Aariin and the remaining mercenaries know better than to further mess with the Onderon Con Men. They take off like blaster bolts.

He waits until they're outside before he speaks up: "You know he's going to run straight to wherever he was holed up and plot yet more revenge?"

"We know," Lux smirks. "Where do you think Zeb, Sabine, and Ahsoka have been?"

As if on cue an explosion lights up the horizon into a thousand colors.

"Gotta love Sabine's work." Saw chuckles. "That should slow Aariin down long enough for a bounty hunter to get ahold of him."

Sierra's grip around his waist tightens. "It's almost like the fireworks we were supposed to go see."

The fireworks.

Kallus lets go of her waist and takes her hand instead. It may not be the romantic moment they were dreaming of, but if the last however many hours have taught him anything they've taught him to seize the day because they might not get another chance.

"Before we got the comm from Zeb you said we needed to talk," he pauses to accommodate the world tilting. His head must have taken a harder hit than previously thought.

"We do," She squeezes his hand.

"I don't know what you wanted to say, but whatever it was, you should know that I love you." He fumbles behind him for the ring, but why can't he find his pocket? He shakes his head to clear the dizziness and continues with his speech. "I love you and I never -."

"Alex, I think I'm pregnant."

He stops. Blinks as the word _pregnant _echoes in his ears louder than the explosion ever did. The landscape tilts more sharply than before.

And then everything goes black.

…

According to Sierra, Saw and Rex carried his unconscious body back to the ship and did a quick exam to rule out a skull fracture or concussion. Once they were sure he'd be okay they tucked him into bed and discharged him to Sierra's care.

The care in question lasted about thirty seconds, or as long as it took for Kallus to assure her he was fine and what was that about being pregnant?

They offered one of the dock workers twenty credits to run to the drugstore and get them a pregnancy test, Sierra took it, and now here they are on the couch waiting for the kitchen timer to go off and signal that the 15-minute waiting period is up.

"It should be done soon."

"Yeah." She pulls her shirt tighter around herself. "What do you think it's going to say?"

"I don't know," he replies, truthfully. He doesn't remember being around any pregnant female long enough to recognize the signs. "How do you feel about it?"

"I'm not sure. Kids were never part of my plan considering what I do for a living, but now?" She meets his eyes. "With you? If it's positive I think I'll be okay."

He exhales. "I don't know anything about being a father. With the example I've had I imagine I'd be terrible."

"No you wouldn't," she puts her hand on his shoulder. "You'd be a good dad. Trust me, I had one."

"You really think so after meeting my family?"

"I wouldn't be okay having a baby with you if I didn't think so."

He's still scared to death, and has no idea what he'd do with a baby, but the fact she believes in him makes him believe in himself.

The timer dings.

"Do you want to get it, or do you want me to?"

"I'll do it." Sierra moves woodenly from the couch to the counter where the test is waiting.

He gets to his feet because it seems wrong to recline on the couch at a time like this, and also because he might need to catch her.

"Whatever it says, we'll do it together," he says as she reaches for the stick. "And for the record, you would be a wonderful mother."

Sierra flips the stick over and collapses against the counter when she sees the results.

"What's it say?" Kallus snatches the stick off the counter and squints at the readout. It might as well be in Huttese.

"It's negative," she gasps. "I'm not pregnant."

"Oh, thank gods!" He can't stop himself from saying it as relief courses through his veins, and almost instantly backpedals. "Not that I wouldn't want to, with you, but now isn't …"

"Not now," she agrees, half laughing from relief. "Angelica must have noticed I was getting puffy from the last hypo wearing off. I'll ask her to give me another one in the morning."

"That sounds good." He makes a mental note to purchase some backups for himself as well. He doesn't want to repeat this experience anytime soon.

"I'm so glad it turned out like this. Imagine if we'd had a baby to worry about today. It was scary enough worrying about each other."

He can't imagine. He'd taken on Aariin to prevent him from hurting her, he can't imagine what he would have done if he'd thought she was carrying his child. "Kids or no kids, we'll have to minimize our interactions with those who own cleavers."

"That's the truth. Hey, did you say something about me to Aariin?"

He sure did: _Aariin, you may not speak that way about my wife. _

Sierra probably kept her earbud in and it picked up his and Aariin's conversation, but she must not have heard everything with all the chaos, like the part where he referred to her as his wife. Or did she and now she wants an explanation of why he said what he said?

"Yes. Would you like to be my wife?"

Sierra blinks and he swallows hard when he realizes what he just did.

"Hold that thought," he says and runs for his sock drawer.

Sierra chases after him. "Do you want an answer?"

He does, just not without doing it properly. Kallus dumps out the socks so he can see better. "Where is it?"

"Are you looking for something?"

"I kept it in here!"

"Alex," she says calmly. "There's a box-shaped bulge in your right pocket. Is that what you're looking for?"

Kallus mentally smacks himself and fishes the ring box out of his pocket. He's already kneeling from his search through the socks, so he doesn't bother moving and opens the box, ignoring the slip of flimsi reading _go for it, bro! _In Saw Gerrera's messy handwriting.

"I wasn't supposed to say that in the kitchen," he says. "I was supposed to do it at the fireworks, but we both know that was derailed, and then I tried to do it outside the office building but that didn't end well either."

Sierra beams. "Third time's the charm."

_Hopefully. _"I didn't prepare a speech or anything." He takes a deep breath. "Please be my wife?"

She knew it was coming but that doesn't stop her from crying. "Of course I will."

He puts the ring on her finger and that's how it happens. Surrounded by socks. And he wouldn't have it any other way.

"How long were you planning this?" She asks and helps him to his feet.

"Weeks." Suddenly all his proposal anxiety doesn't seem bad at all. "Zeb and Sabine helped."

"That explains all the secrecy."

"You weren't onto me? Are you losing your edge?"

"Hey! Pregnancy scares are distracting." Her face falls mid-laugh. "We'll have to hold off … you know, until we can get something. Do you want to go out for dinner? We could probably get free dessert."

"I know a place." His comlink buzzes and he checks just in case it's urgent. "It's Zeb. The transport from Lira San is here and apparently there's quite the celebration."

"Want to send him a picture?"

"We can see him in person," He throws her an excited grin. "He says we're welcome there."

"Are you sure? We don't want to crash their party."

"Spoken like someone who's never eaten Lasat food. It'll be just like going out to dinner, except all the food is free and we can see Zeb. You'll love it."

…

"Zeb!" They catch their friend outside the building which hosts the rest of the Lasats.

"Kal! Hey!" Zeb waves as they approach. "Ready to join the -?" He sees Sierra and his ears fall flat against his head. "Karabast."

Kallus senses immediately that now isn't a good time to share the good news. "What's wrong?"

"Just - just stay here! I'm gonna fix it!"

Warning bells go off in Kallus's head. "Zeb. What did you do?"

Zeb doesn't answer. He runs inside the building, says something to a being they can't see, and shortly afterward a horde of female Lasat race out the back.

Sierra squeezes his arm hard enough he feels her nails leave dents. "Any idea what that's about?"

"Zeb…" Kallus grits his teeth.

Zeb returns to them half at a run and before they can ask anything he says to Kallus: "Look, I set up this pickup a while ago."

"And pray tell, what does that have to do with anything?" Sierra asks.

"I kinda didn't tell Chava about Sierra in case you guys broke up."

"Well we don't have any plans to break up now." She flashes her ring as proof.

Kallus already feels his stomach sinking. "They just found out about the relationship?"

Zeb nods.

"Garazeb, how could you do this to me?!"

Sierra looks from him to Zeb, brow furrowed in confusion. "Are we in some kind of trouble? Did they want him to get with one of their women?"

Zeb goes to speak but is cut off when Kallus grabs the front of his shirt in both fists. "I thought we were friends!"

"Alex, should we leave?" Sierra looks genuinely concerned.

"They aren't gonna hurt you or nothing. They're just kinda..." Zeb looks back at the doorway and brushes Kallus off. "They're here."

Kallus retreats to Sierra's side and she takes his hand with engagement ring displayed prominently. She may not know how to kick a Lasat's shebs, but if that's what it takes to defend her impending marriage she'll figure it out.

But the group standing in front of the building doesn't look like they planned for sheb-kicking. They all look at her and Kallus with a mixture of shock and excitement, especially the hunched Lasat woman at the head.

"Karabast. It's Chava."

Chava's eyes light up. _"He brought a girl!" _

The other Lasats cheer and Kallus gives Zeb a death glare.

Zeb stands aside. "Want to introduce her, Kal?"

"Do I have a choice?" Kallus growls and steps forward hand-in-hand with Sierra. "Everyone, this is Sierra. We're -." He throws a look at Zeb to let him know just which celebration he's messing up. "Getting married."

"This is perfect!" Chava interrupts. "I always thought you would cave and end up with one of our women, Alexsandr Kallus, but this one is even better."

_She likes me_. Sierra allows herself a small smile. "That's a good sign."

Kallus mutters out of the side of his mouth. "Don't speak too soon."

"She's a human! They can have kits!" Chava proclaims.

Sierra sputters and Kallus wills a convenient sinkhole to open and swallow the both of them.

"Come in, both of you. The food is ready." Chava waves them in.

"Don't leave me," Sierra whispers.

He squeezes her hand. "Not planning on it."

"You must tell me everything. How did you meet?" Chava asks once they're inside and a couple of kids have been dispatched to fix them plates.

"We work together," Kallus says, pushing in Sierra's chair and then sitting down himself. "Zeb introduced us, actually." If he and Sierra are going down this chute, then he's absolutely going to drag Zeb down with them.

But Zeb has no intentions of being dragged anywhere. He's grabbed a little newborn from its parents and brings it to the table. "Hey Uncle Alex, someone here wants to meet you!"

Kallus rolls his eyes and takes the baby without complaint. At least it's not screaming and it doesn't look like it'll spit up on him.

Zeb smirks. "Aw look, you're a natural."

He resists the urge to glare yet more at his friend and instead looks to Sierra for solidarity, only to find her gazing sweetly at him like _aww, he looks adorable with that sweet purple baby in his arms. _

She didn't secretly want that test to be positive, did she?

Sierra blinks and then smiles. _Or we could just get a cog_. Thank the gods they can communicate without words.

Kallus breathes a little sigh of relief and allows himself to focus on not dropping the baby. At least the kids are coming with the food and Chava's stopped asking questions.

"Thank you both," Sierra takes his plate along with hers since his hands are full. "It looks great."

"Miss Sierra?" One of the kids asks. "I've never seen a human baby before. When are you and Uncle Alex going to have some?"

Zeb coughs to hide his laughter and Sierra grabs the situation by its horns. "You see your Uncle Alex and I aren't married yet. So..."

"That doesn't matter!" Chava chimes in.

"Care to chime in, Garazeb?" Kallus mutters.

Zeb does. "Marriage is a much bigger deal for humans than it is for Lasats, you guys."

"Right," Sierra continues. "Where I come from, you need to be married before you can have a baby."

That's rich coming from the woman who took a pregnancy test an hour ago but Kallus backs her up. "Exactly. Therefore we aren't going to have any kids until after the wedding."

"Oh." The child deflates. "Well when you do, can I hold them?"

"Sure you can." Sierra grins and almost instantly the child perks up again, like Sierra's sprinkled her with pixie dust.

He knows they probably won't even make it past their wedding reception without another interrogation about children, but at least they've bought some time and hopefully they can enjoy the rest of the night.

"When's the wedding then?" Chava asks. "Alexsandr, do you need me to make you a cloak?"

"Thank you Chava, but I don't think I'll need one. We'd actually like to get married sooner rather than later, but we're having some trouble securing an officiant." He debates how much to tell them. "Sierra and I aren't exactly on friendly terms with the law so we can't just go to the courthouse."

"That's not a problem." Chava looks straight at Zeb

He sputters. "Um…"

"Yes, tell us why that won't be a problem." Kallus passes off the baby to give Zeb his full, withering attention.

Sierra crosses her arms. "We'd love to hear it, Zeb."

Zeb's face falls. "Karabast."


	8. For the Longest Time

**FOR THE LONGEST TIME**

They're getting married! And also the author is taking NCLEX tomorrow and sweating blood, so let's think about fictional weddings. Oh, and the atomic fallout of Amanda Bankole's departure from the Imperial Complex.

* * *

_If there was any downside to this job, Sierra thought while she obliterated level fourteen of Sweet Smash, it would be her getting addicted to computer games. She had to do something while Agent Kallus was off chasing his tail or running after whatever lead she fed him. _

_She smiled to herself. Driving the ISB agent crazy was just too much fun. Between the lunch stunt, deleting all his work, and giving him the first traffic ticket of his life, she was surprised Kallus hadn't had a nervous breakdown by now. He was definitely going to have one when she got through with him. _

"Everybody, time to bail," _The comm crackled to life in her ear. _

_"What?" She whispered. "Kallus doesn't suspect anything on my end. Are you blown?" _

"No"_ Lux sniped. _"The job's going off without a hitch. I just got a comm from Dalla. Apparently the partisans found out who Mollymauk was. They showed up on her door tried to get her to move something really bad and when she said no, they went crazy."

_"Is she okay?" _

"She fought them off, but she's sure they're coming back and when they do it won't be pretty. We need to be there when that happens."

_She couldn't agree more. Few people had done more for their crew than their fence. "Give me ten minutes. We'll leave this complex a mess after all." _

_Steela snickered _"What are you going to do to Agent Kallus?"

_"Nothing more than he deserves." _

_Ahsoka practically howled with laughter. _"Happy hunting, girl."

_Kallus braced himself when he saw Bankole walking toward him. He honestly didn't know what she could still do to him short of putting him out of his misery and just killing him already. Maybe he would beg her to do that instead of subjecting him to her latest torment. _

_"Agent Kallus," she said almost cordially. "I've left my final reports on your desk. You should be able to find them easily enough." _

_"You're leaving?" He tried not to sound as ecstatic as he felt. _

_She nodded. "Thank you for accommodating me. I've appreciated your hands-off approach during my time here." _

_Kallus tried to come up with something sufficiently backhanded in reply but she stopped him in his tracks. With no warning Bankole stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek, right in the middle of his meticulously groomed muttonchop. _

_He froze. He couldn't comprehend the brief moment her lips made contact with his cheek. _

_It was over as soon as it began and Kallus found himself staring at her in shock and disbelief. _

_"Thanks again, Agent," she said, picked up her briefcase, and walked away. _

_Had Kallus been in his right mind at the moment he would have noticed her accent slip the smallest bit. He would have asked her if she'd ever been to Onderon. _

_Unfortunately for him and rather fortunately for Sierra, he was way too distracted to think of the sound of her voice. He stood rooted to the spot until the Imperial Complex doors shut behind her and it was like a spell had been broken. Kallus made a beeline for the front desk girl and demanded the use of one of her gazillion collectible hand sanitizers. _

_The girl handed a bottle over and he didn't waste a second scrubbing half its contents through his muttonchop, not even caring that he smelled like Merry Berry Kiss. _

_Thirty seconds of scrubbing later he found himself much calmer. "Thank you," he said, and handed the sanitizer back to the girl before making for his office. This was turning into a good day, even when the overhead barked for all officers to report to the evidence locker immediately. He grabbed his helmet and bo-rifle by muscle memory alone. Finally, he was getting back in the fight!_

_"What do we have here?" he asked when he got to the evidence locker. _

_"Agent Kallus?" the evidence master looked like he was trying not to laugh for a second but Kallus cleared his throat and he went on. "It appears someone's stolen the impounded credits." _

_"Any evidence of rebel activity?" _

_"No sir, but whoever it was wasn't a common thief either. The surveillance was professionally spoofed and there are no fingerprints nor any signs of forced entry. It's like whoever took them just vanished." _

_Instantly the Jedi popped into Kallus's mind. "Page the Inquisitor," he ordered and turned to the evidence master. "These credits. How large was the crate holding them?" _

_"They're large-denomination, sir. They would easily fit in a briefcase." _

_No. _

_The evidence master raised an eyebrow. "Sir?"_

_He couldn't respond. Not that he didn't want to but he actually, physically couldn't. He could only watch the mental image of Bankole walking away with briefcase in hand on endless repeat. _

_"I was paged?" the Inquisitor's deep voice asked._

_Maybe he could send the Inquisitor after Bankole…_

_Kallus shook his head. He would get himself together. "My apologies Inquisitor, I've just realized who the thief must be. The Jedi were uninvolved in this." _

_"I concur," the Inquisitor said and, oddly, came closer. "No doubt the momentary lapse was caused by your distraction. I'm surprised, Agent. I never thought you would engage in such fraternization." _

_It took a solid ten seconds for the words to sink in. "Fraternization?" _

_The Pau'an only smiled, which Kallus frankly found creepy. But in the time it took he spotted two Stormtroopers handing over credits to Lyste and Minister Tua grinning like her favorite fairy tale had come to life. _

_"Excuse me," he said, and made a beeline for the nearest men's room. _

_Everyone at the men's room sink cleared out as soon as he entered, leaving Kallus alone to stare horrified in the mirror. On the side of his helmet, in precisely the spot where Bankole had laid her lips, was a bright pink lipstick kiss. _

_His blood roared in his ears as the pieces assembled - the lipstick, the decidedly feminine scent of Merry Berry Kiss wafting from him, the witnesses in the lobby when she'd kissed him - it all led to a mortifying conclusion. But the embarrassment wasn't what pushed him over the edge. Nor was it the fact she'd been playing him all week. _

_It was, for whatever reason, the lipstick on his helmet. _

"Ahhhhh!"

_An inhuman scream ripped from Kallus's lungs and reverberated through the entire Imperial Complex. Through all of Capital City, probably. _

_In the bathroom stall, cadet Zare Leonis stood in front of the toilet too afraid to open the door. Instead he watched through the crack between the door and the stall wall as Agent Alexsandr Kallus spectacularly lost it. _

_Zare didn't think he could feel bad for an Imperial, but boy did he feel bad for Agent Kallus in that moment. _

_Holy stars in the galaxy. That lady _broke_ him. _

...

"You're telling me," Kallus says when they've left the hall. "That you listened to me question whether or not Sierra and I could have a real wedding for weeks, knowing full well the Honor Guard of Lasan are authorized to perform marriages, and you kept quiet about it?"

His voice cracks at the end and Zeb's ears flatten.

"Why? Do you delight in my anxiety?"

"No," Sierra sighs. "He did it because he can't be the officiant _and_ the best man."

The look on Zeb's face is more telling than any truth serum.

"Seriously?"

Zeb cracks. "I wanted to be the best man. Sue me!"

"I would be honored for you to stand up at the wedding," Kallus sighs. "But I would even more honored if you performed the ceremony."

"Are you just saying that because you can't get anyone else to do it?"

"No, I'm saying it because we have you to thank for us being together. If memory serves you were the one who hired Sierra to help take down the Pykes. We would never have gotten together if not for that job. No job, no partnership, no relationship, no marriage." Kallus lays it all out. "You brought us together in the first place. I can't think of anyone I'd rather have marry us."

"Really?" Zeb perks up. "I...I mean I've never done it before but how hard can it be?"

"We'll send you an outline of anything really important to include," Sierra says.

"Yeah! Just send it over with the when and where." As he walks away they can hear him muttering to himself. "Now I just have to figure out what to wear."

Kallus and Sierra watch him go. Once he's out of earshot he says: "I never expected Zeb to be so … devious."

"He's gotten over it already." She clears her throat. "So, ready to tell everyone else?"

After a little consideration on the trip back to the ship they decide on a party comm so they don't have to worry about which order to comm everyone in. It takes a while to dial all the frequencies but in a minute the pertinent holoimages pop up over the projector.

"Lux, can you turn your ship around and come back to Lothal?" Sierra asks in way of greeting.

_"I guess." _Lux looks at the unfamiliar holoimages of Angelica and the _Ghost _crew with growing trepidation. _"Why? Are you in trouble?" _

Sierra holds out her ringed hand. "Your presence is requested."

Lux's jaw drops as everyone else bursts into sound.

_"Oh my gods, is that a ring?!" _

_"Sandr you did it!" _

_"Wooohoooo!" _

_"Congratulations!" _

_"How did it happen? Tell me everything!" _

_"Let me see!" _

_"You go bro!" _

"Thank you," Kallus grins and settles into the couch with his arm around his fiancee. "We'd like to invite you all to our wedding."

_"We'll be there," _Mina says without missing a beat. _"Where will it be held? And when?" _

"We'd like to do it as soon as possible," Sierra says. "And it doesn't have to be anything big and fancy. We were sort of thinking…" she makes quick eye contact with Kallus, who nods. "That we'd just do it on the landing platform when you guys get off the ship. Angelica can drive over."

_"The landing platform." _Mina repeats. _"The dirty, noisy landing platform filled with trash and graffiti." _

"I mean, we'll still be married."

_"No," _Angelica swoops in. _"Not the landing platform. If you really don't care where you're having the ceremony, then we'll do it at my work." _

"Angelica, you work at a medcenter." Kallus interrupts.

_"Yeah, a medcenter with a chapel." _Angelica scoffs. _"You can set up there; it'll be great. I'll take care of everything." _

"Are you sure?"

_"I'm sure. Just don't do anything on the landing platform. I've got it!" _Her image blinks out as she no doubt runs to start the plans.

Lux recovers from his shock long enough to speak. _"Guess we'll have to make another hyperspace jump." _

"Of course. Thanks for your flexibility about the short notice." Kallus hangs up and smiles smugly. "Told you it would work."

Sierra shakes head. "My mom didn't believe it for a second."

"She wasn't the target audience. Angelica probably went into a panic the second she heard _landing platform. _She was a terror planning her own wedding. My mother almost commed that holo show, _Bride Zillos, _on her."

Sierra shudders. She's watched (or sat in front of the holoscreen and openly mocked) _Bride Zillos _enough times to have an idea of what Bride Angelica was like. "She's not going to do that again, right?"

"Of course not. She'll just make everything perfect for us." Kallus mentally crosses his fingers that's true. "There's not much anyway. She just has to secure and decorate the chapel at the medcenter."

"Those are some famous last words."

He sure hopes not. At least Sierra won't turn into a Bride Zillo. "There was actually something else I wanted to talk to you about. It's not pressing, but what do you think of the name Phillip?"

She turns her head. "We don't have anyone to name Phillip."

"No, of course not. I was thinking while we were waiting for the test and while I was mostly panicking, I did think that if you were pregnant and it was a boy, we could name him Phillip." He looks around for something to keep his hands busy and settles for picking bits of lint off the couch. "One of the men in my first unit had that name. It's premature, but maybe when we're ready to have a child -."

"Would you be okay with Phillipa if our hypothetical kid is a girl?"

"Really?"

"I like it. You know, in case we have another scare."

"Well, if that happened it wouldn't be so scary after we're married and all."

"No, not as scary but still scary."

"Just like normal 'two people facing the idea of being parents for the first time' scary."

"Yeah."

He pauses. "Gods, that's still really scary."

"Why don't we check on Angelica? That seems safer."

…

Checking on Angelica isn't safer. They make it halfway through the lobby when a nurse's aide who looks like she needs a hug and a cup of caf in that order races up to them and asks "Excuse me, are you the bride and groom? I'm supposed to bring you directly to Dr. Kallus."

"We are. Out of curiosity, is Dr. Kallus acting like herself?" Kallus asks.

"Oh definitely. She's so nice, we all like her and we're glad to have her with -."

Kallus hands the aide a credit chit.

"She's gone insane."

"I wish I hadn't seen that coming." He sighs and digs deeper into his wallet. "Share this with everyone else who has to deal with Dr. Kallus today. You've earned it."

The aide pockets the money. "Thank you."

"Is there anything else we should know before we reach her?"

"Yeah. If you want anything specific at your wedding, you should probably tell her now." The aide calls the lift and they step in. "Also, gird your loins."

"Oh, Lord."

The lift doors open to a wedding hall masquerading as a medical unit. At the center of the flowers and streamers and pieces of cake stands Angelica.

She catches sight of them in a second: "Great, Sophie found you. I need you to decide what kind of cake you want."

"We weren't planning on having a cake," Sierra says. "Or a reception at all. We were just going to go out for - is that a sound system?"

Angelica ignores her and hands her and Kallus each a small plate with three cake slivers on it. "We have vanilla, chocolate, and lemon."

"Vanilla's okay." Kallus says calmly and Angelica signals a man wearing a dietary uniform, who runs off to relay the information to the kitchen.

"How are you getting all of this?" Sierra asks.

"The hospital," Angelica grins. "They're so excited to host a wedding. Dietary's going to make all the food and the cake, we have an empty meeting room for the reception, and I even got them to set up music. Speaking of which -." She hands a flimsi pad and stylus to Kallus. "I need you to make a do-not-play list for the DJ."

Kallus starts writing while Sierra tries to reason with Angelica. "We can't have a big party. It'll draw too much attention and if it somehow catches the eye of the cops we could be in serious trouble."

"The cops won't notice a thing. It's not going to be a massive rager or anything, just dinner and cake and dancing."

"I'm writing down every annoying sparkle-bop song I can think of," Kallus interjects and shows Sierra his do-not-play list. "Anything else?"

She hears his message louder than if he'd written it down:_ just go along with it, because there's no talking Angelica out of this. Besides, it sounds like fun. _

She relents. "I don't think either one of us wants 'The Tooka Shuffle.'"

"Great." Angelica takes the list and hands it off to Sophie. "Sandr, central supply is handling the decorations so if you could check on them that would be great. Sierra, I think we need to go shopping."

"Yes ma'am." Kallus fires off a mock salute and leaves the women to discuss wedding dresses. He wants it to be a surprise anyway.

Now for central supply … he comes up with a few more credits to tip the poor soul who had to deal with Angelica's insanity, since Sophie the aide probably won't get to him. Never before would he have thought his biggest wedding expense would be handing out apology money.

He arrives at the supply manager's office and knocks.

"It's open," the man inside says and Kallus' hand pauses on the doorknob. Has he heard that voice before?

He's already turned the knob when he remembers where.

But it's too late. The door swings open and sitting at the supply manager's desk is -

"Lyste."

…

Lyste freezes at his desk, eyes wide with nervousness. "Agent Kallus?"

"Not Agent," Kallus says automatically and stares some more. "You work here?"

"My wife works upstairs. She got me this job after I was discharged from the Navy," Lyste scoots backward in his seat, an effort to increase the distance between him and Kallus. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm the groom." He realizes how dumb that sounds and backpedals. "I'm getting married in the chapel. My sister Angelica sent me to central supply to talk about decorations...I didn't realize it was you."

"You're getting married," Lyste echoes.

"I am." Kallus spots a framed holo on Lyste's desk, of Lyste with a woman and three little girls. "You have a family?"

Lyste nods. "My wife was pregnant when you …" He looks away from the holo to meet Kallus's eyes. "Why?"

He doesn't need to ask what Lyste is asking after. There can only be one thing, and Kallus isn't going to lie about it. He's already told Lyste enough lies to last several lifetimes. "You were the most easily believable patsy. Thrawn would have been suspicious if it was anyone else, but he hadn't worked closely with you. It was nothing personal."

"They were going to _kill _me!" Lyste shouts. "They actually brought me to the execution chamber when the Grand Admiral called them off and discharged me."

Kallus does the mental math. Lyste's discharge must have occurred concurrently with his arrest.

"And gods only know what would have happened to my family! I thought it was a misunderstanding until I saw the news. You - I thought we were friends!"

Friends. They were friendly, sure, but Kallus never considered them any more than colleagues or acquaintances. There was no room for friendship in the Empire, at least not for people like him. But for people like Lyste, apparently there was.

He wants to say he's sorry, but what he's done goes so far beyond verbal apology that any attempt will be pathetic. So will any amount of credits, or act of service, that Kallus can do.

"I'm not that man anymore," he says. "When I left I was a bastard. No one will deny it least of all myself. But I worked, and I'll be working the rest of my life, and with that effort and the help of people whose help I didn't and still don't deserve, I became someone better. I still have a long way to go, but I'm better."

Lyste's posture softens a little. Of course it does. He may be angry but Lyste is still a simple man who dislikes confrontation. "Can we start over?" He asks.

They can't, not entirely, but it's a step. "I'd like that."

"In that case…" Lyste extends his hand. "Hello. I'm Yogar Lyste, the supply manager for this medcenter and apparently the decorator for your wedding."

"Good to meet you." They shake. "My name is Alexsandr Kallus, and I'm a thief."

Lyste blinks. "A thief?"

"The irony is not lost on me."

Lyste cracks up laughing. "A thief! I can't believe this. Next you'll tell me you're marrying the lawyer from before."

Kallus smiles.

"No way." His eyes gleam with excitement. "Amanda Bankole? You're marrying her?"

"She's not what she seems," Kallus replies. "Amanda Bankole isn't even her real name. But she's the most incredible woman I've ever met and I do not deserve her. I don't know how she agreed to -."

_"Yes! _I won!"

Kallus sputters. "Won? Won what?"

"The 'when is Kallus going to bag the lawyer' bet. We all went in, even the troopers, and I had the longest bet." Lyste collects himself. "I have the decorations set aside. There should be something in there which meets your fiancee's specifications."

"You placed _bets _on me?"

They've picked out tablecloths and electric light-up candles and flower vases when Lyste perks up some more. "I forgot. There's something I want to show you," he snickers and grabs his computer.

Kallus looks over his shoulder. "Are you paging someone?"

Lyste nods. It looks like he's paging housekeeping. "It shouldn't be long," he says once he's done. "Go stand around the corner and make sure we pulled the right vases. I want to see the look on her face."

_Her? Who could … oh. _Kallus breaks into a devilish grin and he goes around the corner.

Not a minute later a woman with a seemingly permanent scowl enters central supply in a huff. "What could you have possibly paged me for, Lyste?"

"Good afternoon to you too, Pryce." Lyste types away at his keyboard. "I just wanted to know if you're working tomorrow."

"Of course I am, you nitwit. I'm always working," Pryce growls. "Now what did you mess up this time that I have to clean?"

"It's around the corner."

Kallus takes that as his cue to show himself. He fixes his greatest, smuggest smirk to his face and positively swaggers into the main room, watching as Pryce's face goes from annoyance to disbelief to horror.

"Hello Pryce."

"No," she seethes. "I will not clean up after _him!" _

"You did quite a bit of cleaning up after me back in the day," he says and for a second reflects on the glorious mess he made of Pryce's files after he defected. "This sort won't be nearly as hard."

"I'll call out sick," Pryce insists and Kallus wonders how in the force's name he could have compared Sierra to this woman. "I refuse to lower myself to -."

"You're not calling out sick," Lyste says tiredly. "You've already had your final warning for excessive absences, and you need the job. You're going to help clean for Kallus's wedding."

"Please be sure everything is spotless," Kallus grins. "My bride and I thank you ahead of time."

Pryce opens and closes her mouth like a fish. "I...I…" Her pager goes off and her scowl deepens.

"That's all we needed you for. You can get that page."

Pryce glares on the way out, muttering under her breath and probably cursing both of them, the bride, and the galaxy itself when she runs smack into Sierra.

"I'm sorry!" Sierra gushes until she sees Pryce's face and immediately redacts the apology with just her expression. "Oh. Pryce, I take it?"

_"You're _the bride?" Pryce scoffs, looking Sierra up and down with derision. "I shouldn't be surprised. Kallus always had rather dull tastes."

Kallus bristles but Sierra only gives Pryce a pitying smile. "Yeah, I am the bride and apparently you are famous the medcenter over for being a terrible person. I know what you're thinking, and I'm here to tell you that you're not allowed to ruin my wedding."

Pryce laughs out loud. "You think I'm afraid of you?"

"She should be," Lyste mumbles and Kallus can only nod. Pryce wasn't around during Sierra's stint as Amanda Bankole, but if she had been …

"No I don't. I'm just stating the facts."

"And how do you expect to keep me from doing anything?"

"Like this," Sierra says calmly, and Tasers Pryce. No hesitation. No fanfare. Just Taser. She doesn't even blink.

Pryce hits the floor with a thump and Kallus finds his breathing growing ragged.

Sierra steps around her. "Angelica's separating us until the ceremony tomorrow. I wanted to say goodbye."

"I'm glad you did," he manages to say and gives her a quick kiss. "See you at the ceremony."

"Next time we see each other we'll be getting married," she grins on the way out and Kallus's heart leaps.

Lyste gives him a few moments after Sierra's left before he speaks: "I'm assuming that was the hottest thing you've seen her do?"

Kallus nods. That was the hottest thing he's seen anyone do. "Gods I love that woman."


	9. Cover Me Up

**COVER ME UP**

But I sobered up, I swore off that stuff

Forever this time

And the old lovers sing

"I thought it'd be me who helped him get home"

But home was a dream

One I'd never seen till you came along

...

You're all invited to the wedding of Alexsandr Kallus and Sierra Bonteri! Everyone's coming and you should too because when do you get to attend a wedding in a hospital? (And speaking of hospitals thank you to everyone who wished me luck on the NCLEX - I passed, and am now a registered nurse!)

But before all of that, let's rewind to the time one Agent Kallus managed to get revenge on the bane of his existence, Amanda Bankole.

* * *

_Well this was a fine mess she'd gotten into. Sierra paced in front of Agent Kallus's sealed office door. _

_"__Are you sure you don't need a pickup?" Saw asked over the comm. _

_"__If he wanted to arrest me he'd be back already." She spat. "No, I'm pretty sure he's just trying to get under my skin." _

_She should have seen it coming. Before he left Kallus had handed her a data chip and told her it would work in the central terminal down the hall. The second she'd tried to leave with it the door locked, the ray shield activated, and the shutters slammed shut over every window. _

_Now that she was actually looking it appeared the data chip emitted a frequency which, if anyone tried to remove it from the office, would lock the place down. The door wouldn't open without Kallus's override code, which she'd never seen him put in and either contained every digit from 0 to 9, or he'd purposely pressed every key on the keypad so she couldn't use fingerprints to brute force the combination. She was pretty sure it was the latter. _

Okay Sierra, take a breath_. She tried to ignore the nervous sweat running down her back. _You're not blown. Kallus is just messing with -

_The door whooshed open and she jumped. _

_"__I'm sorry," Kallus said in a voice that didn't sound sorry. "I must have given you the wrong data chip." _

_"__Obviously." She replied through gritted teeth. _

_"__The security's overkill, honestly." Kallus tapped the door frame. "It's terrible you were locked in here all this time."_

_"__I'm fine Agent." Oh was she going to get revenge the second the job was over. _

_"__Why don't I take you to dinner?" _

_A blind man could see the giant flashing warning lights behind Kallus. "That's not necessary. I brought something to -." She was cut off by his hand on her shoulder. _

_"__I insist." He smiled. "To make up for all this." _

_It was clear he wasn't taking no for an answer. Sierra sighed. At least she could get some free food out of him. _

_Kallus drove them to the restaurant in his personal speeder. He even opened her door for her. What was that about, when he seemed to take pleasure in slamming his office door in her face? _

_He was pulling out her chair and taking her coat like a character from a romance novel. _

_"__I hope this establishment is to your liking," he said as he sat down. "You seemed so startled by the security system."_

_"__I can't say I saw it coming." She reached for the menu. _

_"__Don't worry about ordering," Kallus took it from her hand. "The point of this dinner is for you to get over your shock, isn't it?" _

_So he was going to order her a salad. Fine, she didn't care. She lived with Saw Gerrera for force's sake, she could handle a backhanded favor with a side of insult to her appearance. Your move, Agent Kallus. _

_But when the waitress came Kallus ordered her a steak. An expensive one. _

_"__You do like steak?" he asked with a smug smile. _

_She refused to answer. "I haven't had the chance to frequent many of the local establishments. Do you come here often?" _

_"__Oh no, I usually save it for special occasions." He took a sip of the wine. "A man by himself in a place like this tends to raise eyebrows." _

_He would. Sierra mostly saw couples seated or on the dance floor. "You don't have someone to bring with you?" _

_"__Not yet," Kallus topped off her wineglass, not that there was much to top off. "I haven't found the right woman." _

_After fifteen years of living as a fugitive Sierra had given up on love. She dealt with this by reading tons of cheap romance novels off the HoloNet. Of course she knew real relationships didn't work that way, and if she miraculously got the chance to have one of her own she wanted to walk with her partner as equals, but Kallus's move was right out of her books and she'd be lying if she said her heart didn't skip a beat. _

_"__What about you Ms. Bankole? Is there a man in your life?" _

_She wished she didn't sound stupid when she said "Um, no."_

_"__Really." He smiled almost roguishly. "Surprising." _

_This wasn't accidental. This was Lando Calrissian level seduction. Sierra would know, having been the subject of it once before. Except why? Agent Kallus didn't want her. He hated her. So then why was he acting like the galaxy's famous ladies' man? _

_And even if he did want to sleep with her he didn't need this whole charade. He was - Sierra shook her head, canceling the thought. Since when did she think Kallus was attractive? What was wrong with her? _

_The food arrived and she put the concerns out of her mind. She was here to squeeze free food out of Kallus and here it was. He didn't seem to mind when the conversation came to a screeching halt so they could eat. In fact he even ordered them dessert. _

_What was his angle? None of the food or drink was drugged. None of the other patrons looked like undercover cops. And he wasn't acting like an embarrassingly bad date._

_"__Ms. Bankole?"_

_Sierra snapped back to reality. Kallus stood in front of her, hand outstretched. "If we wait much longer the song will be over." _

_"__You want to dance?" _

_"__It would be a shame not to." _

_So he wanted to make her look stupid on the dance floor. Well too bad for him, because both Amanda Bankole, corrupt lawyer for the one percent, and Sierra Bonteri, senator's daughter, had dancing lessons. She wasn't a champion by any stretch but she wouldn't fall on her face. That, and she recognized the music. It was a tango from a holo she and Steela watched together, about a Festian prostitute and the man who fell in love with her. _

_"__I wouldn't think you had time for dancing, with all your job entails." She took his hand. _

_"__I'm a casual fan." He led her to the dance floor. "I hope you'll take pity if I'm a bit rusty." _

_"__Of course Agent." _After I wipe the floor with you.

_They stepped into position and she prepared to make her first move when Kallus took the lead and without warning, spun her around. _

_Rusty her shebs. He was dead on beat, with strong arms and the confidence which could only come from dedicated lessons. He wasn't shy about showing off either. He would signal her with a guiding hand or careful setup before pulling her into another dramatic turn or lift, both of them moving together more effectively than they could alone. _

_Her mind went blank during the dance. Thought only returned when the song ended and Kallus brought her into a dramatic final dip: _Lando can't do that.

_She heard applause as he helped her to her feet and realized people had been watching. _

_"__Not bad for a casual fan." _

_"__Oh I'm nothing special. But you…" Kallus trailed off, his face flushing. "Excuse me a moment." _

_He left in the direction of the 'fresher, then once he was out of Sierra's sight did an about face and made for the hostess stand. "Excuse me miss, is the waitress's gratuity included in the check?" _

_"__Yes sir." _

_"__Excellent. If you could just give that to my consultant over there that would be lovely. Enjoy your night." With that he grabbed his coat from the rack and walked out, actually whistling as he left._

_The waitress waited until she was sure he wasn't coming back before approaching Sierra. "Ma'am, I'm sorry, but I think your date left." _

_Sierra almost dropped her wineglass. "W-what?" _

_"__A speeder just pulled out of our lot. I think he was driving." She set the check on the table. "No rush on this. Again, I'm sorry about your boyfriend." _

_"__He's not my boyfriend." Sierra grabbed the check and forked over the appropriate amount of credits, wishing Kallus had ordered her a salad. "Here, that should cover it." _

_She hurried out of the restaurant to escape her shame, only to realize that Kallus had driven off with her way back to the hotel and she didn't have any credits left for a cab. She sighed. Oh gods, this was so embarrassing. _

_"__Steela, I need a pickup." _

_The next morning Kallus greeted her with the biggest smirk she'd ever seen. "Ms. Bankole, I trust you enjoyed your evening. Thank you for dinner." _

_Sierra stood there shaking with rage for almost a full minute before she choked out: "You're welcome. Now we should really get back to the case." _

_"__Of course. Here's the data chip you were looking for yesterday. Hopefully you won't get locked in this time." _

You bastard. _Sierra grit her teeth. The instant she got the chance, she was going to kill him_.

...

"Do you have anything particular in mind?" Angelica asks while she and Sierra pore over the thrift store's selection of dresses.

"I'd prefer white but I'm not married to the idea." Sierra chuckles at her own joke. "Nothing black or dark though."

Angelica holds up a pale blue dress for consideration and Sierra shakes her head.

"So did anything come of our little consult?" she asks.

"Negative, thank gods. Alex was relieved too. Out of curiosity, what made you think I was pregnant?"

"A few weeks ago Sandr called me saying you were throwing up and he wanted to know what to give you so you wouldn't get dehydrated. I sort of went from there."

Sierra shudders. "That was the stomach flu; he got it and then he gave it to me when I was taking care of him."

"You take care of him when he's sick?"

"I try. He doesn't like being looked after, but I bring him soup and blankets and things."

"So you look out for him? You love him?"

"More than anything."

"Good." Angelica stops looking through the dresses. "Because if you do anything to hurt him, I know just where to stab a person to cause maximum pain and can get everyone in the medcenter to give me an alibi."

"Duly noted." Sierra pauses too. "Good thing you'll never need to."

They share a nod and go back to the dresses.

"Before I met Alex the only thing I cared about was my career," Sierra goes on. "And I still do. I love my job, but Alex showed me that if I wake up tomorrow and can't do my job anymore, I can still have a life."

Angelica doesn't answer. She just smiles to herself, thinking of Owen and what they'd gone through together and learned about each other over the years. Remembering the similar revelation she'd had shortly after they were married.

_Yeah, this is a good one, _she thinks, and her hand lands on the white dress with an "Oh my gods!"

"Oh my gods!" Sierra echoes as Angelica yanks it off the rack. It's a white off-the-shoulder dress with a high-low hem, completely unlike anything she usually wears but undeniably beautiful.

"The fitting rooms are over there."

"I … I can't." She hesitates. It feels wrong to try on her wedding dress - because there's no doubt this is it - without her mom and all her sisters.

Luckily she has a future sister-in-law with her now. Angelica shoves the dress into her hands. "Try it on now!"

But when Sierra emerges from the fitting room, she gets to share the moment with her family after all. The first thing she sees is Steela standing next to Angelica, her jaw dropped with an "Of course you of all people found _that_ in a thrift store!"

"You're here!" She can't keep from racing into her sisters' outstretched arms.

"Of course we're here." Hero clobbers her. "We wouldn't miss your wedding for the galaxy."

"The guys are throwing a bachelor party for Kallus and we came to help you find your dress. I think we got here just in time." Ahsoka grins. "So is this it?"

Sierra nods and the hug intensifies. Angelica watches from the sidelines until Ahsoka and Steela each unwrap an arm, then clamp Angelica into the sister hug.

…

"This wasn't necessary," Kallus says while Saw leads the charge into the bar.

"But it's fun." Owen says. "You're getting married. We should celebrate!"

"I don't want to be hung over at my wedding."

"Then don't go wild. Hey look, there's an empty stool next to Lux!"

"Excellent. Why don't you sit with us?"

"Oh no, I'm going to sit with Zeb." Owen says all but shoves Kallus onto the barstool with a clap on the back. "Hey bartender, let's get a round for the groom!"

As his smirking brother-in-law walks away Kallus deeply regrets everything he did during Owen's bachelor party.

"What'll it be, groom?" The bartender asks.

"Club soda." He will _not _be hung over at his wedding.

"Taking it easy tonight?" Lux asks in a scarily even voice.

"Sierra deserves a sober groom."

"She deserves a whole hell of a lot more than a sober groom."

And Kallus thought he knew how to spout sarcasm. "I agree wholeheartedly."

In reply Lux orders a double.

Kallus knows better than to say anything, so he drinks his club soda and pretends to watch the bolo-ball game on the screen behind the bar. It's the University of Onderon. He's always been more of a U Mandalore fan, but Sierra advised him to publicly change his allegiance when Hutch is around.

The U of Onderon scores and Hutch leads a cheer.

"You know one of the things I've always admired about Sierra?" Lux says when the noise dies down. "No matter what she sees or what happens to her, she never stops believing that the galaxy could be better. She always looks out for the little guy."

That sounds like Sierra alright.

"When I ran the crew she always said the best part of her job was helping the innocent people who were being exploited by the Empire." Lux sips his drink. "Which is why it shocks me that she would want to be with someone who's caused so much suffering."

Kallus holds his tongue.

"The Butcher of Lasan." He shakes his head. "Would never have guessed Sierra would marry him."

"The Butcher of Lasan is gone."

"Is he really?" Lux's eyes flash with challenge.

This time Kallus doesn't back down. "He's dead. I killed him."

The noise of the bar seems to fade into nothing when he turns on his stool to face Lux. "I understand that you don't like me; I was a mark and an Imperial. I understand you think Sierra's too good for me, because she is. But I am not the same man your crew went after. That man's dead and gone, and he's never coming back as long as I live. I am not the Butcher of Lasan. Sierra deserves more than him, and _I_ deserve more than him."

He returns to his club soda. "I am not the Butcher of Lasan."

Lux doesn't respond for a long time.

"Well," he says and tips his glass to Kallus. "Respect."

"What?"

"I had my doubts, but you're not a bad guy. At least you know when to admit you're wrong." Lux sets down his glass. "Sierra loves you. And I can tell you love her.

"With that being said," his gaze hardens. "Steela may have told you what she would do if you ever hurt Sierra. Bear in mind I will do all of that, and more. I ran the nastiest crew of con men in the known galaxy and I've left a whole lot of ruined lives in my wake. I can add yours to them in a heartbeat."

Kallus nods. "That's only if there's anything left after she got through with me."

Slowly a smile spreads across Lux's face and he laughs.

"Since you're steering clear of the sauce tonight…" He waves to get the bartender's attention. "Hey barkeep! Root beer for the groom!"

...

The morning of the wedding sees Kallus running to the department store with Owen to pick up a new tie for the wedding. He's going to wear his normal suit, as it seems like a waste to buy a new one, but he wants to wear something special.

He picks up one he likes and finds a mirror to try it on.

"Aren't ties one-size-fits-all?" Owen asks.

"Yes, but I should try it on to see how it looks on me," Kallus explains. "Sierra taught me that."

At the medcenter, Pryce screams as the entire housekeeping department shoves her into a supply closet. "What do you think you're doing? You can't keep me in here!"

"You're not allowed to wreck the wedding," another housekeeper says through her grin. She's been fantasizing about this since Pryce got hired. "Don't worry, we'll let you out to do the cleanup when it's over."

On the ship Steela's jaw drops when Sierra emerges from her room dressed for the wedding, but not for the reason most would expect: "Is that the _Amulet of Galia?" _

"Yeah," Sierra touches it gently. "Alex gave it to me."

"Some gift," Hero whistles. "And it looks great on you."

"Sierra, you look beautiful." Mina wipes tears from her eyes. "I wish your father could see you."

Sierra wills herself not to cry and wreck her makeup but it's getting harder as she thinks about her dad. "I wish he could have met Alexsandr."

"He would have loved him," Mina agrees. "And he would have been so proud of the woman you've become."

In the chapel, Hera Syndulla watches from her seat as the other guests start to assemble. She recognizes a few from their service to the rebellion, or from the HoloNet in the case of the Duke and Duchess of Mandalore with their two children. Seated next to them are an Onderonian couple excitedly talking about their Bisney World vacation.

"Look Daddy! Imma flowah girl!" A little girl who looks to be about three races down the aisle with a basket of rose petals, throwing them willy-nilly.

"Not yet, Delilah." Lyste runs after his daughter but only manages to reach her after all the petals are gone. He sighs. "Oh well, at least they're on the aisle."

"You know," Kanan says with a laugh. "Six years ago I would never have pictured us attending Agent Kallus's wedding, watching Lieutenant Lyste's kids throw petals."

Hera elbows him lightly._ "Love._"

"I think the petals look nice on the aisle," Sabine says, bringing them back to the present. "This place could use more color."

"You think a rainbow could use more color," Ezra jokes. "I like it. It's nice but not too much."

Hera would further contribute to the conversation if a bigger concern wasn't walking through the door: "Garazeb Orrellios, are those sunglasses?!"

Zeb winces at her volume. "So, the bachelor party got a little out of control last night."

"Bachelor party?" Ezra sputters. "Why wasn't I invited?"

Hera ignores both of them and snatches the sunglasses off Zeb's face. "Someone get Zeb some water," she orders and shakes the glasses in front of him. "What were you thinking? You can't wear these to officiate a wedding."

"I was gonna take them off when Kallus got here," Zeb groans while Ezra runs off to get the drink. "Speaking of which, I'm late. Where's Kallus?"

The entire chapel falls silent and looks around. No Kallus. No Sierra either.

Kanan whistles. "Oh boy."

…

Kallus has a few minutes to kill before it's time to walk over to the chapel. He chooses to spend them standing next to Angelica's office, watching the telemetry readouts in an attempt to quell his nervousness.

"Pre-wedding jitters?" Sophie the aide asks from her place watching the monitors.

"A bit," he admits. "I'm not worried about the marriage; I know I want to marry her. I only hope none of our friends decide to do something rash during the ceremony. Some of them may be prone to and we'd like a nice wedding."

"You deserve one," Sophie says. "After everything you've done."

Kallus raises an eyebrow and Sophie looks dejected for just a second. "You don't remember me."

"I'm sorry, I don't believe I do."

"I'm not surprised. I was just a supply person and you were an officer after all." She fidgets with her hands, like she's trying to work up the courage to say something. "During the Battle of Hoth, you carried me out of Echo Base."

"What?" he sputters.

"I was hurt in the first wave," she says. "I would never have made it out if you hadn't come along. You picked me up and took me to a transport."

Stars, Kallus remembers doing it now. He hadn't really thought about it at the time - she needed help, he was available to offer it, and he'd done so without a second thought.

"Now probably isn't the best time to tell you with it being your wedding day and all, but I didn't know if I'd ever see you again." She bites her lip. "You saved my life. Thank you."

"You're welcome," he says. An awkward silence ensues and he clears his throat. "Uh, I should go meet my bride."

"Yeah, of course." Sophie nods. "Congratulations. All the best for your wedding."

His mouth is too dry to thank her for the good wishes. Kallus makes it to the hallway and pulls out his comlink like a lifeline, dialing Sierra's number from memory.

_"__Happy wedding day, handsome," _Sierra answers her unit cheerfully and his spirits lift a little bit.

"Hello yourself. I need to see you."

_"__What, before the ceremony? Isn't that not allowed?" _

"I … I'm bending the rules. Can you come?"

Sierra's tone shifts; she must realize the gravity in his voice. _"Give me five minutes to give Lux the slip. I'm on my way." _

…

Kallus's jaw drops. "Wow."

Sierra steps inside the lift and hits the door close button, careful her dress doesn't get caught in the lift doors. "Hey, what happened?"

She can tell whatever's eating Kallus is still on his mind, but the sight of her is a definite distraction.

"You look beautiful," he says. "Truly, words fail."

"You look great too. I didn't know we were going to have a first look."

His face falls. "I didn't plan on it. I was about to go to the chapel when I ran into Sophie -."

"Sophie?" She raises an eyebrow. "The nurse's aide?"

"Yes that Sophie, whose life I apparently saved on Echo Base!" He laughs humorlessly. "What are the odds that _three _people from my illustrious past are here in this very medcenter? I'm half expecting to find Thrawn serving the wedding cake!"

The odds _are _pretty low for Pryce and Lyste, but Sophie… "You don't realize how many people you've saved?"

"In contrast to the lives I've ruined?"

"So many people!" If he refuses to acknowledge it, then she'll just have to spell it out for him. "The Skystrike pilots to start with, every defector you helped the rebels extract, the entirety of the base on Atollon, the victims of the legitimately corrupt people you put away in the ISB, Sophie -."

"A number which pales in comparison to the people who are dead because of -."

"And _me."_

He stops. He can't argue with it, nor can he put himself down in light of that.

"Alex, when I met you I was lost. I had never been so alone before, and I didn't know what to do so I lashed out, I was reckless, I was losing myself to my aliases because there was no one there to remind me who I really was. If we'd never met I don't know where I would be - drunk maybe, or dead, or on a one-way express tram to Dxun - but I wouldn't be me. And then you came along and you..." She stops to check her emotions. "You are a hero. You are my hero. Please, believe it."

And maybe for the first time, he really does. Kallus looks back on his deeds and feels a swell of pride. For his Fulcrum transmissions, for his actions in Rebel Intelligence, for his and Zeb's efforts to help the Lasat people, and for anything and everything to do with the woman who lifts him up and who he lifts up in return.

He grins and in that moment, neither of them want anything more than to go to the chapel and get married right now. So they do. Sierra hits the button for the chapel level and they ride together hand in hand.

Meanwhile in the chapel, the guests huddle to confer on the whereabouts of the missing bride and groom.

"Maybe one of them chickened out of the marriage thing and ran away?" Sabine suggests.

"Oh they ran away alright," Steela confirms. "But not from the marriage."

"What do you mean?"

Ahsoka smiles. "I guarantee you they are eloping right now."

"Oh no they don't," Angelica growls.

Steela turns her gaze to Dalla. "Did you…?"

"Oh no, I am innocent in this," Dalla raises her hands. "I'm only authorized to perform marriages at sea, and I don't see an ocean around here."

"What about the courthouse?" Soniee asks.

"Not when you're on the run from the law." Hera wishes she wasn't speaking from experience. "That means Zeb is the only possible officiant. _Zeb!" _

Zeb, with sunglasses returned to his face, grunts in reply.

Angelica zeroes in on him alongside Hera. "Don't go anywhere."

Zeb just nods, perturbed by how much she looks like Alexsandr used to, and Hera's murderous little droid asks if he's allowed to shock Zeb to keep in him line.

"No Chopper, you may not shock anyone!"

"I'm looking up any religious sites in the area in case they decide to elope there," Hutch says. "And before you ask, the ship is still docked so they didn't run off to Spegas."

"Spegas?" A voice asks in a confused Coruscanti accent. "Who said anything about Spegas?"

No one's relieved more than Angelica. "Sandr! Sierra! Are you two married?!"

"Uh, not yet." Even Sierra's thrown by that one.

"We came here to take care of that." Kallus looks around and decides he doesn't want to know what the guests were talking about.

Mina claps her hands. "Well everyone's here now. Are you ready?"

"We've been ready for weeks." Sierra squeezes Kallus's hand. "Zeb, if you want to -."

"Not yet," Saw separates the couple with a good-natured shove. "We gotta do the walk down the aisle. Kallus, to the altar!"

…

"Hello everyone," Zeb, sunglasses-less, reads from the datapad balanced in his hand. "We're gathered here today to celebrate the wedding of Alexsandr Kallus and Sierra Bonteri. This is a sacred rite, an ancient rite, as Alexsandr and Sierra prepare to join their lives and futures as husband and wife.

"And as a side note," he says devilishly and points at the couple. "I take full credit for making this happen!"

Kallus rolls his eyes and Sierra just laughs.

"All of us here know about the day these two physically met, whether we heard about it through the grapevine, over a comm unit, or by actually witnessing the glorious chaos." Zeb waits for the audience's laughter to die before he continues. "But none of us were on there when they quit using aliases and Alex officially met Sierra.

"I had a few inklings that they were onto something the next time I saw him. First of all, he stopped calling her an 'amoral, heartless sociopath.' He stopped religiously checking to make sure she hadn't stolen his wallet."

The guests laugh again.

"But what I really noticed was that when he came back to my place that night he was different. He was proud and confident again, and that's when I knew this was the start of something good."

Mina blots tears from her eyes as Zeb continues. "As Alex's best friend I had the pleasure of watching their relationship develop. He commed me when he met Sierra's family, and I could tell how excited he was to meet them even though he was nervous. He talked to me after Sierra helped him get back in contact with his sister. Karabast, I've only met one couple who cares about each other like these two do. As friends, teammates, and literal partners in crime they've always had the other person on their mind. They put their partner first, they face the galaxy together, they never give up on each other and if that ain't marriage I don't know what is! So without further ado, let's make it official!"

Everyone cheers and Zeb scrolls through the datapad. He didn't read over the ceremony last night because he was too drunk, but he figured it couldn't be too far off the Lasat wedding rites. How wrong he was. "Wow, this is a lot. How long are these things on Coruscant and Onderon?"

"Most marriages were arranged back in the day. Still are," Sierra explains. "It's a huge political thing."

"Thank the gods we dodged _that _blaster bolt," Kallus jokes and his bride smiles, which makes him smile.

Zeb doesn't notice. "Well we're not doing that … or that … yep, better skip - oh, you said you wanted this!" He stops scrolling and straightens up. "Please take each other's hands for the binding."

They do and Zeb produces a length of brightly colored ribbon, no doubt courtesy of Sabine. "With this cloth I bind the two into one, sealing them together forever."

He wraps their hands tightly and ties a clumsy knot, but it serves its purpose.

"And now the couple will exchange their vows."

Sierra startles. "Zeb, we didn't write anything."

"Why didn't you - oh yeah, humans." Zeb curses under his breath. "Hang on, I can probably find something on the HoloNet."

"It's okay," Kallus says. "There's something I'd like to say."

Zeb ceases his search.

"When I was a young officer I asked Colonel Yularen why he always talked to his wife before he made a major decision. He smiled and said 'Because, my boy, she is my guiding star.'" He clears his throat. "For the longest time I thought it was romantic nonsense - your wife was the person you wouldn't mind having children with, whose company you enjoyed, but not a source of direction. And then I met you, and I realized he was right. Because you are my guiding star."

"Momma, is he crying?" Melaana whispers.

Soniee nods. "Yes, but we're not going to talk about it."

"You lead me in the right direction even when I don't know which way is up," Kallus continues. "I know that as long as I'm with you, I'm doing good. So I'll follow your star. I'll walk with you through whatever the universe has in store for us. I'll be true to you and your direction, and when it gets dark I won't be afraid, because I know you'll be there to light the way." He takes a deep breath. "That's my vow. It's not much, but it's my best."

"Are you kidding?" Sierra attempts to blink away the tears threatening to wreck her makeup. "That was beautiful!"

"Are you crying?" Kallus starts to reach for her face but their tied hands stop him halfway. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you -."

"No, it's wonderful. I - just give me a second." She blots her eyes with her elbow. "Wow. I really don't know how to follow that, but here goes" She exhales. "When anyone asks where my home is I usually say Onderon, or the ship, but the truth is I didn't have one. My family was my home, and I didn't know what to do with myself when I was away from them. But after we met, you became my family. And you became my home. I promise that I'll do whatever it takes to build that home with you. I'll be faithful to you, I'll return to you every night, and I'll be your home just as you are mine. I promise to love and honor you all the days of my life and Zeb, if you could please get on with this, I don't know how much longer I can stand not being married to this man."

Zeb lumbers to his original position. "So is that a yes from you, Sierra?"

"Yes it is."

"Alex?"

"Gods, yes!"

"Then by the power vested in me by Lasan, I pronounce you two married!" Zeb cheers. "Everybody give it up while Alex kisses the bride!"

The hall bursts into chaos. The con men applaud, the Ghost Crew cheers, Tav takes a selfie, and Lyste and his wife attempt to cover three sets of eyes while the girls whimper _"Eeew!" _And Chopper holds out a small detonator to Sabine.

"Thanks Chop," she says and takes it.

Hera spots it out of the corner of her eye: "What's that?"

"Just a wedding present," Sabine says nonchalantly and reaches for the button on the detonator. "I said this place needed more color."

The hairs on the back of Hera's neck stand up. "Sabine, do Kallus and Sierra know about that?"

Sabine hits the detonator and a cascade of rainbow glitter explodes from behind the altar and the newly married couple, nearly drowning out Zeb's shocked _"Karabast!" _

The housekeepers watching from the hallway freeze in horror for a second, then one of them shouts _"PRYCE!" _and all of them cheer.

"How do you feel?" Sierra asks her husband in the middle of the noise.

He shakes his head, blinking. "There's glitter in my eye, and I don't care."

"I don't care either." She smiles and kisses him again.

Kallus pulls back earlier than he'd like in the name of decency. "Angelica sure does though."

Sierra sneaks a look. Doesn't take a grifter to figure that one out. "Run Sabine. Run."

...

One of the orderlies has grand aspirations of being a deejay, and volunteered his services for the wedding. He's not halfway bad as long as he sticks to the request list.

Ezra takes to the dance floor before the cake is even cut. He's not really dancing, more like flexing for Molly's benefit. She's encouraging him just enough to get him to embarrass himself further and then laughing at the results.

"Why don't we take him down a few notches?" Saw suggests to Hutch. "Nothing embarassess a teenager faster than dancing uncles. Kanan and Zeb can help too."

"I think Hero's got it," Hutch narrows his eyes at Ezra while Hero orders the deejay to put on something Ezra can't flex to. "We aren't having another wedding."

"Just relax, guys." Steela returns to their table with a piece of cake. "The bride and groom are happy. That's the most important thing."

"I forgot how much fun weddings could be," Rex admits. "I was so nervous at ours I could hardly sit down."

"It was great though."

"Hands down." He kisses her cheek. "So, Sierra and Kallus. What do you think?"

"Honestly?" Steela smirks. "What took them so long? As soon as they showed up on Onderon it was obvious they were going to be together forever."

Rex nodded. Neither Kallus nor Sierra did anything by halves, whether it was professional or personal. Once they'd decided to pursue a relationship they jumped in with both feet and no backup plan, and all their work was paying off. And really, if any two people were stubborn enough to make a marriage work it was these two. "Have you seen them?"

Steela gestures to the cake. "Eating. Finally having a minute to breathe."

He remembers what it was like at his own wedding, how much he treasured the few moments he had with just his wife. "We won't dare interrupt them."

But it turns out the interruption's coming all the same. The deejay apparently runs out of fast music Ezra can't flex to and grabs the microphone. "Ladies and gentlemen, would the bride and groom come to the dance floor to share their first dance as husband and wife?"

Kallus stiffens when they get to the dance floor. "I forgot."

"You can do it," Sierra takes his hands in encouragement. "Everyone here likes us. They won't judge."

"No, I forgot how to dance." Every step he learned in his culture lessons at the Academy has flown out of his head. The first strains of the song begin and he sighs. "And to this song, no less."

"We don't have to actually dance, not to this kind of music. Just rock from side to side and hold onto me."

He does - stiffly at first, then his movements become more natural as he falls into synch with her.

"Sierra?" He whispers. "Could you do one last thing for me?"

As the guests watch the couple dance they see Sierra beaming as she caresses her husband's face, and they see the love in his eyes gazing back to her.

But they don't see how her hands are carefully placed to shield Kallus's lips from view, giving him some privacy to, in a voice so soft she can just barely hear, sing to his wife while they sway on the dance floor.

_So cover me up, and know you're enough. To use me for good. _


End file.
